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HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN 



TENNESSEE AND THE NATION 



BY 



HOWARD LEE McBAIN, Ph. D. 

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MUNICIPAL 5CIENCE AND ADMINISTRATION 
IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 



VXD 

SEYMOUR A. MYNDERS, M. A. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS. KNOXVILLE. TENN. 



ILLUSTRATED 



REVISED EDITION 



New York City 

Howard L. McBain, Publisher 
iQi 5 






Copyright, 1909, by 
Howard Lee McBain and Seymour A. Mynders 

Copyright, 1915, by 
Howard Lee McBain and Estate of Seymour A. Mynders 



SEP -7 1915 

©CI.A410330 



PREFACE 



This brief text-book on government has been prepared to 
meet the needs of the public school children of Tennessee 
either in the graded or in the high schools. The plan and 
scope of the work, as well as the manner of presenting the 
subject, mark a wide departure from the time-worn 
methods of elementary text-books on so-called " civil 
government" — a departure which the authors believe to be 
instinct with the educational demands of the hour and with 
the vitality and importance of the study. 

The general plan of the book rests upon a universally 
accredited principle of the science of teaching; it proceeds 
from the known to the unknown, from the near to the 
remote. For this reason, Part I of the book serves to 
introduce the pupil to some of the basal concepts of his 
own community life, leading him naturally to the study of 
local and central government in his own State. Part II 
deals with the government of the nation, emphasizing 
those national activities with which the pupil is more or less 
familiar, and explaining simply and clearly the delicate 
adjustment of relations between the government of his 
State and the government of his nation. In other words, 
the book attempts, as an introduction to the study of poli- 
tics and government, to give the child an intelligent com- 
prehension of the meaning of government and an under- 
standing of how he- is governed in his own State and nation. 
It is in no sense a sacrifice to an extreme States' rights 
idea ; it is the application of a pedagogical principle that is 
at once all-comprehensive and fundamental. The authors 
are profoundly convinced that in the presentation of this 



6 PREFACE 

most important subject, the demand is insistent that we 
should in every case begin with the immediate community 
life of the child and from this work out to the larger con- 
cept of the nation. 

In the manner of approaching the subject the authors 
have been moved by the further conviction that the elemen- 
tary teaching of "civil government" will always be a bug- 
bear and a failure unless its chief purpose is to relate the 
child in an intimate and personal way to the activities of 
government. To the pupil of less than high school age the 
powers and the functions of the State auditor or the organi- 
zation of, and procedure in, the civil courts of the State are 
very dry subjects indeed, and very naturally so. But if he 
lives in a city, he probably takes a lively interest in the fire 
department, in the police, in the many things the city 
undertakes to do for the health of the community — things, 
such as a sewerage system, which he knows about but has 
perhaps never thought to ascribe to the government. Or 
if he lives in the country, he is doubtless vitally interested 
in what his county is doing to improve roads or to pro- 
vide schools. It has been the conscious purpose of the 
authors in the first six chapters of this book to make the 
child above all else, see the government as a real, active 
thing about him, a thing of which he is a part. 

It is only after the pupil's interest has been thoroughly 
aroused to note the many operations of the government 
that the effort is made to show him how the government 
of his State is supported, organized, and operated. This 
is done in as simple language as possible. The child mind 
is kept constantly in view, and emphasis is laid upon the 
actual operation of the machinery of government rather 
than upon elaborate details of its organization. 

Obviously it is more difficult to infuse this same personal 
clement into the child's study of the national government, 



PREFACE 7 

for most of its operations are outside the range of his 
observation. The subject has, however, been treated in as 
intimate a manner as possible ; and at every step care has 
been taken to point out the paramount importance of the 
national activities and the reason why they are undertaken 
by the nation rather than the states. 

The setting up of a definite relation between the child's 
life within the school and the political activities of com- 
munity life about him is in harmony with the fundamental 
principles of modern educational aims. School life must 
more and more reflect and embody community life. And 
the authors believe that this is especially true in the teach- 
ing of government, if we are to instill any principles of good 
citizenship into the minds and hearts of that vast majority 
of our children who go out into life from the elementary 
school. 

TO THE TEACHER 

In presenting a " civil government " text drawn along 
such wholly new lines, a word of suggestion directed espec- 
ially to the teacher may not be inappropriate. Teachers 
will probably agree that the subject is inherently difficult to 
teach in the grammar grades. But a subject is not usually 
difficult to teach if the pupil is interested. The arousing 
in the pupil's mind of a spirit of interested inquiry in the 
afifairs of government is of far greater value to him than 
the knowledge of many unimportant details of govern- 
mental organization. Formal question-and-answer recita- 
tions should, therefore, be used sparingly. Informal and 
spontaneous discussions of the text and of the questions 
suggested will prove far more successful in the class-room. 
It is of transcending importance, however, that the teacher 
first of all be thoroughly familiar with the spirit, the pur- 
pose, and the scope of the work. 



8 PREFACE 

To each chapter are appended questions to be used for 
discussion in class. For the most part they aim to localize 
the text, to draw the pupil's attention to conditions in his 
own community and their bearing on what he has been 
reading, to create a spirit of inquiry and investigation. It 
may be impossible in some cases to answer these localized 
questions, but a question which cannot be answered, or 
which can be answered only partially, is not necessarily 
without value. It may create both interest and investiga- 
tion. The teacher should encourage the pupils to study 
the questions and to gather all possible information in 
regard to them from their parents and others in the com- 
munity who would be likely to know. The real essence of 
our teaching should be the creation of this interested at- 
titude of mind toward things political. 

Howard Lee McBain 
Seymour A. Mynders 



CONTEXTS 



PART I 
HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IX TEXXESSEE 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. What we mean by Life in a < 'ommuxity. . 13 
II. What the Government does to protect 

oub Lives and Health 23 

III. What the Government o protect 

our Property 37 

IV. How our Liberty [s protected 46 

V. What the Government does to help us tx 

our Desire foe Knowledge 53 

VI. What the Government does to promote 

( ommuxity Progress 68 

VII. How the Government of Tennessee is 

supported S5 

VIII. What the Constitution is 97 

IX. How the Government is organized 104 

X. How the Laws are made 108 

XL How the Laws are put into Operation. . 116 

XII. How the Laws are explained and applied. 124 

XIII. How the Counties are governed 134 

9 



I0 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIV. How the Cities are governed 141 

XV. Who takes Part in the Government. . . . 149 
XVI. How Political Parties control the Gov- 
ernment of Tennessee 155 

PART II 
HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

X^VII. How the National Government pro- 
tects AND ASSISTS US 161 

XVIII. The Constitution of the Nation. ..... 177 

XIX. The Nation and the States 189 

XX. How the National Government is sup- 
ported 198 

XXI. How the National Laws are made. . . . 206 
XXII. How the National Laws are put into 

Operation 218 

XXIII. How the National Laws are explained 

and applied 231 

XXIV. How the National Government is con- 
trolled BY POLITICAL PARTIES 241 

Index 249 



PART I 

HOW WE ARE GOVERNED 

IN TENNESSEE 



REFERENCES FOR TEACHERS 



It will be futile to expect the average pupil in our graded schools 
to consult many works on politics and government outside of his 
classroom text. It is highly desirable, however, that teachers should 
expand their knowledge of this important subject; and fortunately 
many valuable works are easily obtainable at comparatively small 
cost. The authors have prepared this brief list of references in the 
hope that the teacher may be directed toward interesting and re- 
liable reading which will be especially helpful in presenting the 
subjects to pupils. 

Material for advanced study of the government of Tennessee is 
for the most part inaccessible to the teacher. A copy of the State 
Constitution is of course indispensable. The annual Reports of the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Secretary of State, and 
the Commissioner of Agriculture will also be of invaluable assist- 
ance. They can usually be secured upon application to these several 
officers at Nashville. Copies of the School Laws and the Election 
Laws of Tennessee can doubtless be secured in the same manner. 
Teachers of classes in city or town schools should provide them- 
selves with a copy of their city or town charter, which can no 
doubt be had from the city or town clerk. 

For the general study of local, State, and national government 
in the United States, Beard's American Government and Politics 
(Macmillan Co., New York, $2.10) is by far the most complete 
and satisfactory treatise available; but the following may also be 
recommended : 

Ashley, American Federal State. Macmillan Co., New York. $2.00. 

Bryce, American Commonwealth (abridged edition). Macmillian 
Co., New York. $1.75. 

Dunn, The Community and the Citizen. D. C. Heath & Co., Bos- 
ton. $0.75. 

Fiske, Civil Government. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. $1.00. 

Hart, Actual Government. Longmans, Green & Co., New York. 
$2.00. 

12 



HOW WE ARE GOVERNED 

IN TENNESSEE 



CHAPTER I 

WHAT WE MEAN BY LIFE IN A COMMUNITY 

1. What a community is. Most of you have doubtless 
read the fascinating story of Robinson Crusoe. You re- 
member how, after being shipwrecked, he was thrown upon 
a desert island, and there lived for a time separated from 
all other human beings. Most of you have heard, too, of 
hermits — those strange men who withdraw themselves 
from their fellowmen and live in loneliness and solitude. 
Moved by some odd fancy, they usually seek out a cave or 
a rude hut in the mountains, and there, far away from 
other people, spend their miserable lives. 

How very different are the lives of most of us ! We are 
so accustomed to having our family, our friends, and many 
other people about us that we can only with difficulty 
imagine how anybody could tolerate so lonely a life. 
People are usually found living together in groups ; indeed 
this seems to be the natural way for them to live. Some- 
times, as in a city, a great many people are crowded to- 
gether in a comparatively small space. Sometimes we find 
them in small towns and villages. In Tennessee, however, 
a majority of the people live on farms. Yet they are close 
enough to one another to enjoy life together and to have 

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I 4 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

many interests in common. They have, for instance, com- 
mon churches, common schools, common stores, common 
post-offices. 

Now this is what we mean when we say that people live 
in communities. A community is a group of people living 
more or less closely together and having certain common 
interests. It may be a village or a town, a county or a 
city. 

2. Why people live in community groups. The world is 
probably not large enough for every one of us to live like 
a hermit, completely separated from everybody else. Even 
if it were, most of us would not care for such a life. We 
enjoy being with people. We love to associate with the 
members of our family, our friends, and acquaintances. 
This is one of the reasons, then, why we nearly always find 
people living in community groups. But it is not the only 
reason. 

You doubtless recall what a hard time Robinson Crusoe 
found in providing himself with such simple necessities as 
food and fire and clothing. This was because he was living 
entirely alone. 

Suppose whenever one of us needed a new coat it were 
necessary for us to raise and shear the sheep, prepare the 
wool, weave it into cloth, and then cut and make the coat. 
What an endless amount of trouble, and what a poor look- 
ing coat we should have when it was finished ! As things 
are, one group of men raise the sheep, another group pre- 
pare and dye the wool, and still another group weave the 
wool into cloth. This cloth is carried to stores, where it 
is bought by tailors who make it into coats. When you or 
I desire a coat, we seldom think of sheep or wool or cloth. 
We go either to a tailor or to a shop where we can buy a 



LIFE IN A COMMUNITY 15 

coat ready to be worn. Think how many different men 
have had a share in the making of the coat you wear. 

You can readily see from this illustration that our wants 
can be supplied much more easily when we live near other 
people than they could if we lived alone. This, then, is 
another reason why we live in communities. 

Have you ever stopped to think how many desires most 
of us have? All day long in one way or another we are 
busy satisfying our own desires, or else helping other peo- 
ple to satisfy theirs. Of course it is impossible for us to 
enumerate all the desires that any one person has; but 
there are a few which nearly everybody has. Let us see 
what some of these common desires are. 

3. Our desire for life and health. To most of us life is 
the most precious thing that we possess. A man will 
sometimes sacrifice his life for his honor, or for his coun- 
try's honor, or for some one whom he 1<>ws. In general, 
however, he will sacrifice other things to preserve his life. 
In many ways we seek to protect our lives. We must pro- 
tect them, in the first place, against the violence of others, 
and in the second place, against dangers such as result 
from fires, from accidents on the railroad or on the water, 
and in cities from the dangers of the streets. It is neces- 
sary for us also to use the proper precautions against 
disease. This indicates another of our desires — the desire 
for good health, which is closely akin to the desire for life. 
Most of us want a sound body, not only because it 
promises to prolong life, but because a healthy body is 
essential to our general well-being and happiness. 

4. Our desire for liberty. Xo man who lives in a com- 
munity can enjoy liberty without restraint. Robinson 
Crusoe could, indeed, have yielded to the wildest desire 
that might cross his fancy. There was no one to prevent 



16 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

his doing anything he wished. But the average man must 
live in his community with some regard to his fellowmen. 
He cannot wholly ignore the rights of others. By liberty 
in a community, therefore, we mean the freedom to do 
what we please so long as we do not come in conflict with 
the rights of other people. We are, of course, absolutely 
free to think what we please, but in our actions we must be 
considerate of others. Most of us are entirely willing, if 
it is necessary, to give up a part of our liberty of action in 
order that we may enjoy the other benefits of life in a 
community. 

5. Our desire for wealth. It is natural for everybody to 
want to possess something. Boys and girls like to own 
things, and men and women enjoy no less the pleasure of 
possession. Lands, houses, implements, cattle, horses, fur- 
niture, clothes, books, money — all these are things which 
most of us desire to own. These we call property. Men 
seek to obtain property not only for the pleasure of possess- 
ing it but because of what it enables them to do. The 
ownership of property brings comforts and luxuries, and 
makes it possible also for a man to secure more property. It 
is this desire for wealth and property that causes men to 
seek employment — to become doctors, lawyers, farmers, 
manufacturers, shop-keepers. 

6. Our desire for knowledge. Most of us crave to know 
things. This is an instinct that we have all noticed in very 
young children when they begin to ask questions and in- 
quire into things. When they grow older they are sent to 
school in order that they may learn many things while they 
are young. But we want to know more than what we can 
get out of books. We are interested in learning what is 
going on both in our own community and in other commu- 
nities. We need, therefore, newspapers, letters, telephones, 




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18 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

and telegrams. By these means we satisfy our desire to 
know what is going on in the world. And our desire 
for knowledge helps us to attain many other desires. It 
also helps the community in which we live, for we cannot 
imagine anything more pitiful than a community in which 
nobody has any education and nobody desires it. 

7. Our desire for progress. Most men desire to see the 
community in which they live become progressive Of 
course this desire for progress takes many forms ; it would 
be impossible to mention all of them. The desire for edu- 
cation, of which we have just spoken, might be included as 
a part of our general desire for progress. The wish to see 
good roads, strong bridges, and efficient railroads in our 
community; if we live near the water, the wish to have 
harbors dredged, lighthouses built; if we live in a city, the 
wish to see beautiful buildings, gardens and parks, clean 
and well-paved streets — these are some of the evidences of 
our desire for community progress. 

8. Our desire for happiness. All these other desires that 
we have been discussing combine to constitute what is our 
chief desire, next to the preservation of our life and 
health — the desire for happiness. It may not be possible 
for us to define what this desire for happiness is. It varies 
in different individuals. Some find happiness by pursuing 
almost exclusively one thing, as the desire for wealth, or 
for knowledge, or for science, or for art ; but the majority 
of us find happiness by pursuing a combination of many 
desires. 

9. The conflict of desires. When people live together in 
a community, it is very natural that their desires should 
sometimes conflict. In his desire for wealth a man may 
seize another's property, or he may commit acts injurious 
to the general health of the community, or offensive to 



LIFE IN A COMMUNITY 19 

other people's ideas of cleanliness and beauty. For in- 
stance, a man may maintain a factory in a part of the 
community where the smoke is annoying; or the factory 
itself may endanger the lives or the health of operators by 
reason of unsanitary conditions. In his desire for unre- 
strained liberty a man may, in a passion, take the life of his 
fellowman, or burn his dwelling. Or again, in the pursuit 
of knowledge or science men may neglect their business 
and make debts which they are unable to pay. 

It must be clear to you that in these cases the desire of 
one individual of the community conflicts with the rights 
or desires of other individuals. It is perhaps equally clear 
that there must be some means for preventing the rights of 
one man from being interfered with by the desires of 
another. There must be rules which the members of the 
community are forced to obey. There must be some 
peaceful way of settling disputes among them, and of 
securing justice to all. Not only that, but there ought 
also to be some means by which the members of a com- 
munity are helped to attain various desires which they are 
unable to satisfy alone. They should be helped, for in- 
stance, in the protection of their lives and health, and in 
satisfying their desires for education and for progress. 

10. What the government is. What is the means by 
which this harmony and assistance are secured? In the 
first place, there must be rules of conduct which the indi- 
vidual must obey — things that he must do and things that 
he must not do. For example, all communities command 
that each man shall respect the lives and property of every 
other man; and the community will punish any one who 
violates this command. These rules for the conduct of the 
people of the community we call Jaws. 

In addition to the laws, there must be officers who make 



20 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

the laws and others who see that they are enforced. For 
instance, in your own neighborhood there are perhaps a 
county court, a sheriff, a constable, and a justice of the 
peace. Or if you live in a city, there are a mayor, a city 
council, a body of police, and many other officers. 

This body of laws and those who make and enforce them 
are what we generally mean when we speak of the govern- 
ment. 

You must bear in mind that the government is estab- 
lished in order to help the people living in a community. 
Some people have the idea that the government deprives 
us of our liberty. We are perhaps inclined to feel this 
way when we come in contact with some particular law 
that prevents us from doing what we wish to do, or forces 
us to do what we dislike to do. There was a time, indeed, 
when the government did trample upon the people's 
liberty, and in some countries this is done even to-day. 
You will recall that the reason why our forefathers freed 
themselves from Great Britain was that the mother country 
tried to oppress the colonies and to interfere with what 
they regarded as their liberties. For the most part, how- 
ever, it is the government that seeks to protect our liberties 
from being interfered with by others, as when the gov- 
ernment arrests the thief who attempts to steal from us. 
The people of Tennessee have declared that their govern- 
ment is founded by the people of the State "for their peace, 
safety, and happiness." Not only does the government 
protect our liberties, but it also undertakes, as we shall 
see later or in our study, to assist us in reaching certain of 
our desires and to add to our general welfare and happi- 
ness. 

11. Our method of study. In the next few chapters we 
shall see some of the things that the government in the 



LIFE IN A COMMUNITY 21 

communities of Tennessee does in the way of protect- 
ing our life and liberty, and helping us to attain certain of 
our desires. (Chapters II to VI.) 

After we have seen something of what the government 
does for us, we shall then be able to understand more 
clearly how the government of our State is organized and 
operated, or in other words, how all these things are 
accomplished. (Chapters VII to XVI.) 

When we have completed our study of the government 
of our State and of our own community, we shall learn that 
the government of our nation also undertakes to protect 
us and to assist us in many important ways. In Part II 
of our study, we shall learn of those things which our 
national government does for us, and we shall see how 
that government is organized and operated. (Chapters 
XVII to XXIV.) 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

To the Teacher. The questions appended to each chapter are 
for the purpose of drawing out the pupil's interest in activities of 
government with which he is more or less familiar. These activities 
are, of course, more prominent in city communities than they are 
in the rural districts. The teachers of rural schools should, there- 
fore, explain many of the city activities referred to. The questions 
are intended to be suggestive, not exhaustive. Many others will 
doubtless present themselves to the teacher. 

1. What sort of community do you live in — county, town, village, 
city? Find out, if you can, how many people live in your community. 
In your neighborhood are the houses close together or far apart? 
Think of some of the ways in which you associate with the people 
of your community — when and where, for instance, do you meet 
them? 

2. What are some of the pleasures you enjoy now that you would 
not enjoy if you lived like a hermit? 

3. If you lived absolutely alone, how would you get your food? 
Your clothing? Furniture? How would you protect yourself from 



22 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

cold? What, then, are some of the advantages that you enjoy by 
living in a community? 

4. What arc some of the things that threaten people's lives in 
your community? Their health? Can you think of anything that 
is done to protect you from these dangers? 

5. Mention some of the restrictions upon your liberty in the 
schoolroom— what are some of the things that you are not per- 
mitted to do? Explain how these things would interfere with the 
rights of others. Why are you forced to consider the rights of 
others? Why are they forced to consider your rights? 

6. Mention some of the property that you possess in the school- 
room. How does this property help you? Mention some of the 
property owned by the school. How does this property assist you? 

7. Is money property? Why? What business is your fether 
engaged in? Why does he engage in business? Mention some of 
the property in your home. To whom does it belong? How was 
he enabled to get it? 

8. Why do you attend school? What desire are you satisfying? 
Mention some of the ways by which you find out what is going on 
in the world. 

9. Who makes the rules of your school? Who enforces them? 
Could you speak of the government of your school? What would 
you mean? 

10. What do you mean by the government of a community? 
Why is it necessary? Mention all the laws of your community that 
you have ever heard ol Mention all the officers that you can 
think of. 



CHAPTER II 

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DOES TO PROTECT 
OUR LIVES AND HEALTH 

12. Our personal responsibility. We have seen that 

among all the desires that men usually have there is none 
more powerful than the desire for life. Now in most cases, 
as you all know, it is we ourselves who are personallv re- 
sponsible for the preservation of our own life and health. 
If we would keep our bodies in healthful condition, we 
must be mindful of the ordinary laws of health. We must 
take due precaution against disease. We must have plenty 
of fresh air and exercise. Moreover, we must refrain from 
recklessly running into dangers that we could avoid. 

In the care of our health the family also is to some ex- 
tent responsible. The home should be selected in a 
healthful location. It should be well ventilated, and the 
plumbing should be good. The housekeeper, too, should 
be careful of cleanliness. It is the duty of the family 
within their means to see that the home is maintained in 
such a manner as to insure the health of those who live 
in it. 

In many cases, however, neither the individual nor the 
family can ward off the dangers which sometimes threaten 
life and health. It is here that the government steps in to 
assist us. Especially is this true in communities where a 
large number of people live together as they do in cities, 
for in such communities the dangers to life and health are 
far more numerous than they are in the country districts. 

23 



24 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

13. Protection of life against personal attacks. One 
person is sometimes attacked by another because of some 
personal grievance. The government of course makes 
such an attack' unlawful and provides for the arrest and 
punishment of the offender. Special officers are appointed 
to protect the members of the community against such 
attacks upon their lives. In the counties we find consta- 
bles and sheriffs, and in the cities there are police, whose 
duty it is not only to prevent such attacks whenever possi- 
ble, but to seek out and arrest those who have been guilty 
of them. The government also makes it unlawful for one 
man to threaten the life of another even though he may 
not actually make an attack upon him. 

Now you may ask : " How does this protect our lives ? 
It rarely happens that an officer of the law is on hand to 
prevent an attack which is about to be made. May not a 
man's life be taken before the law can protect him ?" You 
must remember, however, that in every case the one who 
breaks the law knows that in all probability he will be 
arrested and punished. It is the fear of this punishment 
that prevents him from any rashness to which his impulses 
or his violent temper may prompt him. 

In spite of this fear of punishment for his misdeeds, a 
man fails sometimes to control his anger. He makes a 
sudden attack upon another individual who has offended 
him. There is no time or opportunity to call upon the 
police or the constable. The one who is attacked must act 
for himself. In such cases the law provides that the per- 
son attacked may defend himself. He may even take the 
life of the one who has attacked him if that becomes neces- 
sary in order to preserve his own life. He may afterwards 
be arrested and tried, under such circumstances, for having 
killed his fellowman, but if he is able to show that he was 



PROTECTION OF LIFE AND HEALTH 25 

compelled to do this in order to protect his own life, he is 
freed from all responsibility. 

14. Protection of persons accused of crime. When an 
individual is arrested for an offense which he is supposed 
to have committed, it may not always be certain that he is 
actually guilty The law assumes that every man is inno- 
cent until it has been proved that he is guilty. It requires 
also that the accused must be given a fair trial in 
accordance with the law ; and the law lays down certain 
things which are necessary to make the trial a fair one. In 
the first place, the prisoner cannot be kept in jail indefinitely 
awaiting his trial. He has the right to demand that he be 
carried immediately before some officer of the law, and that 
he be shown the reason for his being kept in prison. If it 
appears that there is reasonable ground for suspecting him, 
he is then held until he can be brought forward for trial. 

For all serious offenses, the person accused of crime 
enjoys what is ordinarily called the right of trial by 
jury. This is the right to have a number of his fellow 
citizens, usually twelve, determine whether he is or is not 
guilty of the offense of which he is accused. Those who 
are called to tell what they know about the circumstances 
of his case are known as witnesses. The law gives the 
prisoner the right to have these witnesses stand before him 
and tell what they know in his presence. He has the right 
also to bring witnesses of his own. 

These are only a few of the many provisions which the 
law makes for the protection of the life and liberty of 
those unfortunate individuals who are accused of crime. 
But you can easily see how important they are. Without 
them cases would arise every day in which the innocent 
would be made to suffer unjustly. 



26 



HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 



15. Protection of life 
Many accidents happen 
lifetime. For some of 
own carelessness. For 
usually be expected to 
those that result from 
These are dangers from 
In some ways, however, 



against accident: in the country. 

to most of us in the course of a 
these we have to thank only our 

instance, the government cannot 
protect us from such accidents as 

runaways, falling, and drowning. 

which we must protect ourselves. 

the government does seek to pro- 




A Triple Railroad Crossing 

This unusual and costly method of preventing accidents is employed 

at a point where three different railroads cross one another 

tect us from accident. You of course know that it is 
the custom in your community for drivers to keep to the 
right of the road. You may not know, however, that 
the government actually requires this by law in order that 
accidents may be prevented. Another protection which 
the government affords is that against railroads. To 
avoid collisions the government regulates the manner in 



PROTECTION OF LIFE AND HEALTH 27 

which one railroad shall cross another. The railway com- 
panies are required to place signals and sometimes gates 
where the tracks cross a country road or a village street. 
Sometimes the railroad is even compelled to fence its 
tracks. It is customary also to regulate the speed of trains 
when they pass points at which accidents are liable to 
occur. Moreover the government makes the railroads 
responsible for injuries done to employees. This is a 
most important protection, for railroads employ many 
hundreds of workmen, and the operations in which these 
workmen are engaged are necessarily of a dangerous 
character. Similar responsibility is placed upon other com- 
panies employing large numbers of workmen. 

16. Protection of life against accident: on the water. The 
government also makes many laws to protect the lives of 
those who spend much of their time upon the water. It 
regulates for instance, the manner in which boats shall 
pass each other; it provides that they shall signal each 
other by whistling and requires that they shall carry cer- 
tain lights at night. On the seacoast where there is dan- 
ger of shipwreck, the government erects lighthouses to 
warn the seaman of his danger and provides life-saving 
stations, with crews of sturdy men ready at any time to 
assist vessels in distress. 

17. Protection of life against accident: in the city. It is 
easy to see why the liability to accident should be much 
greater in the city than it is in the country. Where so 
many people are gathered together in one place, where the 
buildings are large and crowded close to one another, where 
everybody must of necessity pass through the streets filled 
with rapidily moving street cars and vehicles of all kinds, 
it is natural enough that dangers of one kind or another 
should frequently arise. It is in the cities, therefore, that 



28 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

the government is forced to provide most often for our 
protection against accident. 

One of the dangers which constantly threaten people liv- 
ing in cities is that which results from fires. The government 
seeks to lessen this danger by providing that large build- 
ings shall have fire-escapes in order that the occupants of 
the building, in case of fire, may be better able to reacli 
the ground in safety. In public buildings like theatres, 
where large numbers of people come together, it is re- 
quired that a sufficient number of exits shall be provided 
so that the people may quickly gain the streets in time of 
danger. In many places the children in school are re- 
quired to practice fire drills, in order that, whenever it is 
necessary, they can be taken from the school building 
rapidly and without confusion. 

Other protections, too, are given to buildings. Eleva- 
tors are inspected to see that their machinery is in proper 
order. Inspectors are appointed to see that buildings 
being erected in the city are sufficiently well built to pre- 
vent collapses, such as have sometimes occurred. 

In the streets the attempt is made to regulate the speed 
of street cars, automobiles, and horses, in order that acci- 
dents may be prevented. Excavations and obstructions, 
which are sometimes of necessity placed in the streets, have 
to be marked by lights at night. And not the least of the 
means employed by the government to prevent accidents is 
the provision of lighting the streets at night by gas or 
electricity. Thus you see that in many, many ways the 
government throws out its strong arms to protect us from 
accidents over which we ourselves could have no control. 

In addition to all these precautions that are taken to pre- 
vent accidents, most cities provide for the immediate 
treatment of those who are injured. Ambulances in 



PROTECTION OV LIFE AND HEALTH 



29 



charge of skilled surgeons stand ready to hasten to any 
part of the city where an accident has occurred. There 
is usually a public hospital also where sick and injured 
persons who are unable to pay may receive whatever treat- 
ment they need at the expense of the government. 




Sand Island Lighthouse 

One of the many lighthouses erected by the United States 

government at dangerous points along the seaboard. 

This lighthouse is situated near the shore of Sand 

Island at the entrance to Mobile Bay. 

18. Protection of the poor. In still another way does the 
government throw its protection around the life of the in- 
dividual. When a man's health and strength have failed, 
when he is without friends or relatives to support him, he 



30 



HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 



finds that the government has made provision for his care. 
Formerly this protection of the poor was given by the 
churches, which still do a great deal toward helping those 
unable to help themselves. In modern times, however, 
this has come to be considered as one of the duties of the 
government. We find poorhouses, therefore, in every 
county and city, and officers are appointed whose duty it 
is to see that these unfortunates in the community are pro- 
vided for. 

19. Protection of aged soldiers. In Tennessee the gov- 
ernment also provides for those soldiers who fought in 
the War between the States, and who, by reason of their 
disablement or their losses as a result of the war, are 
unable to care for themselves. These venerable men gave 
gladly of their youthful vigor and stood ready at a time of 
great need to sacrifice their lives in the service of their 
State. In many cases they lost their all in their country's 
cause. It is no more than right and just, therefore, that 
the government should provide for them during the declin- 
ing days of their lives. 

20. Protection of life in times of riot. Occasionally 
there arises in a community so serious a conflict of inter- 
ests that the officers of the community are unable to pre- 
serve order. This frequently occurs during strikes, when 
some of the strikers and the rowdy element of the com- 
munity become a mob and attempt to prevent the ordinary 
conduct of business. 

It sometimes happens, too, that the people of a com- 
munity are incensed over some crime that has been com- 
mitted. They gather together and desire to punish the 
supposed criminal themselves, without permitting him to 
be tried and punished by law. In such cases it often hap- 
pens that the police, the constables, and the sheriff — the 



PROTECTION OF LIFE AND HEALTH 31 

officers who ordinarily preserve order — are unable to han- 
dle the situation. Life and property may both be seriously 
endangered. There must be means for protection, and 
the government provides it through the militia of the State. 
In theory the militia of the State is composed of all able- 
bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five 
years. In reality, however, the militia consists of com- 
panies of men who volunteer for service in the various 
communities of the State. The governor is commander- 
in-chief of the militia. He is empowered by law to call 
the troops out in emergencies of this kind in order to en- 
force the laws. It is in this way that the government safe- 
guards the lives of the people in situations so dangerous 
that they cannot be dealt with by the local authorities. 

21. Protection of our health. In case we are taken with 
serious illness it is necessary for us to have the proper 
medical treatment. You can readily see the dangers that 
would arise if any one who wanted to become a physician 
or a pharmacist were permitted to do so. In order to pro- 
vide against such a state of affairs, the government pre- 
scribes that before a man can practice medicine or pharmacy 
he must pass certain examinations to prove his knowledge 
and ability. 

Moreover the government exercises prompt control over 
the houses of those w 7 ho are so unfortunate as to contract 
contagious diseases. Such houses are at once quarantined 
— that is, well persons are prohibited by law from entering 
such houses while the disease lasts. In cases of malignant 
diseases, like small-pox, the sick person is often taken to 
a hospital provided for that purpose. The requirement that 
school children shall be vaccinated is another precaution 
that is taken to prevent the spreading of disease. 



32 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

Every one recognizes that the excessive use of intoxi- 
cating liquor is injurious to health. After many attempts 
to control the evils of intemperance the State of Tennessee 
at length prohibited the sale of liquor within the borders 
of the State. 

In another respect the government has found it necessary 
to interfere in behalf of our health. Laws are made to pro- 
tect us against unwholesome food being offered for sale. 
When foodstuff's are shipped in large quantities, the ship- 
pers cannot always be depended upon to consider the health 
of those who eat their products. Vegetables and meats 
often become stale and unwholesome before they are sold. 
Milk is often tampered with, chemicals being added to pre- 
serve it from souring. The health of the community is 
seriously endangered by such inconsiderate acts, for we 
ourselves are often unable to detect the unwholesomeness 
of food we are eating. The government steps in to help us 
by appointing officers whose duty it is to inspect various 
food-products that are offered for sale. 

Most of our canned meats are shipped from Chicago and the 
middle West. Recent investigations showed that the great packing- 
houses having in charge the preparation of these meats had been 
very careless in regard to cleanliness and other protections which 
should have been used to prevent disease. Our national govern- 
ment at Washington took the matter up, believing that it was some- 
thing that concerned the whole nation. A law was passed pro- 
viding for government inspectors for the packing-houses, and no 
canned meats can be sold today without the approval of these 
inspectors. 

22. Protection of health in towns and cities. Just as 
densely settled communities increase the liability to acci- 
dent, so they increase also the danger to the health of those 



PROTECTION CF LITE AND HEALTH 



33 



who live in them. In towns and cities, therefore, it be- 
comes the duty of the government to make special pro- 
visions for the proper protection of the health of the com- 
munity. Streets must be kept clean. Dirt and garbage 
must be carted away from the homes of the community. 
Sewer systems must be established in order that the streets 
may be drained and refuse water from the houses may be 




A City Dump 

Where ashes and dry refuse from city homes are dumped on 
the outskirts of the city. Garbage is usually burned. 

carried out of the city by means of underground pipes and 
mains. Moreover, the government usually regulates the 
use of any property or the conduct of any business that is 
especially liable to endanger the health of the community. 
23. Danger to health in drinking water. In modern 
times many diseases have been traced to impure drinking 
water. In the erection of buildings in his barn-yard the 
farmer is not always careful to protect his well from im- 



34 



HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 



purities. Sometimes the stable-barn is built on high 
ground and the well is sunk in lower ground. The result 
is that the filth and refuse from the stable drain toward 
the well ; its water becomes affected with unwholesome 
germs, and disease is spread. Too much care cannot be 
taken in choosing the site for a well. 

In cities the old method of securing drinking water 
from wells has long since been abolished. It was impos- 




Filter Plant of the Chattanooga Waterworks 

Here the water supplied to the city of Chattanooga is cleared and 

purified by being pumped through filters before it is 

distributed through the city. 

sible for each of the many hundreds of houses to have its 
own well ; besides, it was too inconvenient. In all of the 
larger cities of Tennessee the government has undertaken 
to supply the community with water through pipes and 
mains laid beneath the streets. Particular care has to be 



PROTECTION OF LIFE AND HEALTH 



35 



taken in choosing a pure source from which the drinking 
water is to be supplied. The water supplied to the inhabi- 
tants of Nashville is secured from the Cumberland River 
and is purified by being pumped through filters. 

24. Summary. We thus see in how many ways the gov- 
ernment is daily protecting our lives and health. Many of 
these things we have scarcely thought to ascribe to the 
government. We are so used to them that we do not think 
much about them. We do not often stop to consider, for 
instance, when we go into an elevator or a theatre, that 
the government has afforded us a certain degree of protec- 
tion against accident. When we see the street cleaners 
busy about us, and the lamplighters going their rounds at 
twilight, it does not often occur to us that they are fur- 
nishing us with protection. sit down to our tables, 
we do not frequently remember that much of the food 
before us has been inspected by government officers in 
order that its wholesomeness may be assured. These are 
only a few instances, as we have seen, in which we are 
shielded by the government from many attacks that might 
otherwise be made upon our lives and health. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. What means, if any, are provided in your school for the pro- 
tection of the lives of the teachers and pupils? Are there fire- 
escapes? Are there broad staircases? Are there sufficient exits? 
Do you have fire drills? 

2. What means are provided for the protection of health? How 
is your schoolroom ventilated, and why? How is it heated? Is 
it well lighted? Do the school authorities require you to be vac- 
cinated? Where does your drinking water come from? When 
are children prevented from attending school on account of dis- 
ease? Who prevents them, and why? 

3. If you live near a railroad, do you know of any precautions 



36 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

that are taken to prevent accidents? If you live near the water, 
what precautions do you know of there? 

4. If you live in a city, do you know of any precautions that 
are taken to prevent accidents by fire in public buildings? To 
prevent accidents in the streets? How are your city streets lighted, 
and why? Who owns the lighting plant? 

5. Find out what provision is made in your community for the 
care of the poor. Who supports the poor-house? 

6. Is there a militia company organized in your community? Do 
you know of any time that it has been called into active service? 
If so, when and why? Do you know any of its officers? 

7 .Suppose a man commits a crime in your community, who 
would ordinarily arrest him? Where would he be taken? What 
rights would he have? Would he have to prove his innocence? 

8. Have you ever noticed an inspector's label on canned meats? 
Is milk inspected in your city? Are meats and vegetables in- 
spected ? 

9. What measures does your city take to make the community 
more healthful? Is there a sewer system? Are the streets kept 
clean? Are contagious diseases quarantined? What about s the 
drinking water? The garbage? 

10. Who is responsible for all these protections of life and 
health? Could you as an individual protect yourself in these things 
without the assistance of the government? 



CHAPTER III 

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DOES TO PROTECT 
i OUR PROPERTY 

25. The owership of property. When we were dis- 
cussing the individual's desire for wealth, we saw that 
wealth consists of lands, houses, implements, cattle, horses, 
furniture, clothes, books, money, and such things ; and we 
learned that these things are called property. Xow, as 
you well know, every piece of this property is owned by 
some particular individual. It is well recognized that each 
of us has the right to acquire property. We may receive it 
as a gift, we may earn it by our labors, or we may purchase 
it ; that is, we may exchange one kind of property — money — 
for some other kind of property. When we have once ac- 
quired any piece of property in this manner, it belongs 
to us, and no one can' take it from us without our consent. 
The government recognizes that we have the right to hold 
and protect the property that we own, and in many ways 
the government helps us to protect it. 

Some of our property we use simply to satisfy our needs 
and comforts. A large part of it we use in business enter- 
prises in order that we may get together more property 
and thus increase our wealth. We are entirely free to do 
whatever we choose with the property we own, provided 
we do not interfere with the rights of those about us. 

In early history when people lived in tribes, as the American 
Indians once lived, they moved about from place to place without 
having any definite homes. Under such conditions it was impos- 
sible for them to own much property. They did not value the 

37 



38 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

land because they did not know how to till the soil and raise crops. 
They secured food by hunting and fishing. In later times tribes 
began to settle on some particular tract of land, which was owned 
in common by the whole people of the tribal community. The 
different crops they raised were put together and were then dis- 
tributed among the members of the tribe in accordance with their 
needs. The farm lands in Russia today are held in this manner. 
In most civilized countries in modern times the land is held by 
the individual members of the community and not by the com- 
munity as a whole. This results in many advantages, for each 
individual who owns a portion of the land feels a personal attach- 
ment to the community. He takes an interest in its welfare be- 
cause his own life is bound so closely to the life of the community. 
Communities, therefore, become more permanent in their character. 
It is for this reason that the government not only recognizes the 
right of the individual to own land, but even encourages him by 
protecting him in his possession. 

26. Our duty to protect our own property. It is our 

duty, both to ourselves and to our community, to protect 
the property we possess. This we can do by carefully at- 
tending to our own business affairs, and sometimes by per- 
sonally defending our property from attacks made upon 
it by others. It is clear, however, that we cannot always 
do this. We may lack the power or the influence neces- 
sary to maintain our rights. In such instances it becomes 
necessary for the government to step in and protect us. 
The government does this by means of a very complicated 
system of laws, framed in order to meet every possible con- 
flict that might arise between individuals. This is a sub- 
ject proper for the study only of lawyers and judges. It 
is easy for us, however, to see many of the simpler ways 
in which the government protects us in the property we 
possess. 

27. Protection of property against robbery. There are, 
unfortunately, in every community a few people of bad 



PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 



39 



moral character who have no regard for the pro; 
rights of their fellowmen. They desire wealth for them- 
selves, and not being able or willing to secure it by honest 
means, they try to steal the property that belongs to some 
one else. Just as it is the duty of constables and police to 
protect the lives of members of a community, so it is also 
their duty to protect their property from thieves. In cities 
police patrol the streets constantly, in order to fulfill both 




A Squad of City Police 

of these duties. The lighting of the streets by night, which 
saw was a protection to the lives of citizens, serves 
also to assist the police in the prevention of robberies that 
might otherwise be committed in the darkness. 

In spite of this CQnstant watchfulness on the part of of- 
ficers of the government, property is sometimes taken. The 
government then puts forth every effort to seek out the 
guilty party and arrest him. You must not think, however, 



40 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

that thefts are confined to the lower element of people liv- 
ing in the community. Sometimes men in high positions of 
trust, as for instance, officers of a bank, yield to the temp- 
tation to steal the money which they have in their care. 
These men are no better than the worst of common 
thieves. In fact their guilt is even greater, because they 
have usually had better opportunities and better training 
than the ordinary criminal. 

28. Protection of property against fire. It is impossible 
for the individual members of a community to protect 
their property in any sure manner from destruction by fire. 
They must, of course, use due precaution to prevent the 
starting of fires. Something, too, they can do when build- 
ings are being erected, for many fires are caused by reason 
of the poor construction of buildings. It is usual for the 
government, however, to undertake to protect property 
against loss by fire. This is naturally impossible in coun- 
try districts where the houses are widely separated. It is 
only in towns and cities that the government can accom- 
plish anything in this direction. 

In small towns and villages there is generally a volun- 
teer force of firemen. Sometimes the only equipment they 
have is a number of water-buckets. Whenever a fire 
breaks out, these buckets are passed from hand to hand 
along a file of men. 

In cities there are regularly organized fire departments, 
with fire engines, hose and hook-and-ladder wagons, ready 
at a moment's call to hasten to any part of the city where 
a fire has started and property is threatened with destruc- 
tion. At various points in the city are placed call boxes, from 
which an alarm can be sent over an electric wire to the 
central office of the department. Each box has its num- 
ber, and bells, ringing the number of the box, indicate in 



PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 



41 



what part of the city the fire is located. On frequent cor- 
ners there are plugs to which the hose can be attached, 
and from which an abundant supply of water is secured 
through mains and pipes laid beneath the streets. Strong 
and courageous men, regularly employed for this purpose, 
hurry to the scene of the fire. These firemen are often 
called upon to risk their own lives in the rescue of people 
from a burning building, or in preventing the spread of 




Engines at Work at a Large City Fire 

the fire. The police also are called upon to assist at fires 
by keeping back the crowds which gather and by prevent- 
ing reckless people from endangering their lives. 

29. Protection of landed property. Disputes frequently 
arise over the question as to who is the rightful owner 
of a piece of land. If the government did not pro- 
vide some means for protecting landowners these dis- 
putes would be much more frequent than they are. In 



42 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

Tennessee every piece of land owned by an individual 
must be registered at an office provided by the gov- 
ernment. Whenever such a piece of property is trans- 
ferred from one person to another, either by sale or by gift, 
the transfer must be recorded. Usually a lawyer is em- 
ployed in such cases to look up the whole history of the 
piece of land and to trace its numerous transfers. The 
owner then feels secure in his possession, for no one else 
will ever be able to claim the property by reason of its 
having been improperly transferred. This is called secur- 
ing a clear title to the property. 

30. Protection of homes. Sometimes a man is very un- 
fortunate in his business. He may make some serious mis- 
take, or by poor investments he may lose a great deal of 
money. As a result he finds himself heavily burdened with 
debts that he is unable to pay. His creditors begin to 
press him for settlement, and he stands in danger of hav- 
ing everything he possesses sold at auction, and himself 
and his family left in abject poverty. The government 
realizes that many men are brought to this position 
through no direct fault of their own. It realizes, too, that 
if the man is made a pauper, especially if he is advanced 
in years, it will be impossible for him to recover himself. 
The government, therefore, provides that if a man pos- 
sesses a home, it shall be reserved to him to the value of 
$1,000. This protection is known as the homestead ex- 
emption. 

31. Government control over property. We have already 
noted that in general we may do whatever we please with 
the property that belongs to us ; but in doing so we cannot 
interfere with the rights of other people. In case our prop- 
erty is a piece of land, we may erect buildings on it ; or we 
may dig beneath it ; and if we find minerals, or coal, or oil, 



PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 



43 



these things belong to us. When the interests of the com- 
munity, however, conflict with our own desires, the gov- 
ernment places certain restriction."- upon us in the use oi 
our land and other property. In country districts, for in- 
stance, the government usually requires that farms shall 
be fenced in, in order that cattle may not stray around and 
injure other people's property. 

In towns and cities various restrictions are placed upon 
the use of property. The government may determine the 
height of a building, or it may prevent a wooden struc- 
ture from being placed in the heart of the city. It will not 
permit the owner of a piece of property to use his property 
for carrying on any business that would endanger the lives 
and property of others, or be a nuisance to his neighbors. 
It usually requires the property owner also to keep the 
sidewalks bordering his property free from snow and ice. 

32. Property owned by the government. In every com- 
munity the government owns some of the property. 
Rivers, most oi the roaxls. and many of the bridges are the 
property only of the government. In cities the govern- 
ment owns the streets, alleys, and parks — those portions of 
the property that are used by all the members of the com- 
munity in common. The government must own public 
buildings also, such as the State Capitol at Xashville. the 
county courthouses, city and town halls, public schools, 
public libraries, post-offices, prisons, and poorhouses. 

33. The power of the government to take our property. 
In some cases the government may even take our property 
entirely from us. It may seem advisable, for instance, to 
open a road or a street through the property we own ; or 
the government may desire to construct a park, or put 
up a school or other public building on our property. 
Frequently the owner is willing to sell such property to 



44 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

the government for a reasonable amount. But in many 
cases terms cannot be agreed upon, or the owner may not 
wish to sell at any price. The government thereupon 
takes the property away from him. The law provides, 
however, that in no case shall this be done without just 
compensation being paid to the individual for his loss. 
This power of the government to take a man's property 
from him is called the power of eminent domain. 

The government usually confers this power upon rail- 
roads. It is absolutely necessary that railroads should be 
given the right of way over all property. While the in- 
dividual whose property the railroad takes should be fully 
paid, he must nevertheless be prevented from charging aa 
unreasonable price for it. 

In one other important instance the government takes 
the individual's property from him — and that, without any 
direct compensation in money. This, however, brings up 
the whole question of taxation, a subject which will be re- 
served for a later chapter. (See chapter VII.) 

34. Summary. We have discussed here only in brief out- 
line what the government does to protect us in the posses- 
sion of our property. As we stated in the beginning, the 
whole system of governmental protection of property is 
very complicated. Now it may seem to you from what has 
been said that the government undertakes in many in- 
stances to interfere with us in the use of our property. There 
are restrictions in regard to this, and restrictions in regard 
to that. In every instance, however, where the govern- 
ment has seen fit to control us in the enjoyment of our 
property, it is because the interests of the community have 
demanded it. 



PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 45 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. What do we mean by property? What property do you use 
in school? What part of it belongs to you? What part belongs 
to the school? Who supplies this school property? Are you pro- 
tected in the possession of your books and pencils? Who protects 
you? 

2. Tell what you know of the life of the American Indians in 
early times. What kind of property did they have? Why did 
they not own land? 

3. Who owns the land in your community? How may one man 
transfer a piece a land to another? In case of dispute over the 
ownership of a piece of land, who settles it? 

4. What means does your community afford for protection against 
burglaries? Who arrests the burglar and what is done with him? 
Why do police patrol the city streets? Why are the streets lighted? 
Why is there no patrol in the country districts? How is the police 
force organized? 

5. Find out what you can about the fire department in your com- 
munity. What is its purpose? Who supports it? Have you ever 
seen a large fire? How is an alarm turned in? Explain how the 
department operates. Why are there no fire departments in the 
country districts? 

6. What property does the government own in your community? 
How did the government get it? Why is this property owned by 
the government? 

7. Do you ever remember a road or street being opened in your 
community across some man's property? Or do you ever remem- 
ber a school-house or other public building being built on some 
man's property? If you do not know of any such instance, per- 
haps your parents or teacher can tell you of one. Who opened the 
road or street? Or who built this building? How did the gov- 
ernment get the property? Was the former owner justly paid? 
What is this power to take property called? 

8. Is there a railroad in your community? Who owns the prop- 
erty on which the line is built? Could any land-owner refuse to 
sell a portion of his land to the railroad? Why? What must he 
be paid for the land so taken? 



CHAPTER IV 

HOW OUR LIBERTY IS PROTECTED 

35. What liberty in a community means. When in the 
first chapter we were discussing our desire for liberty (see 
page 15), we saw that liberty in a community does not 
mean the right to do anything we please. The rights of 
others must be considered. If everybody were free to do 
what he liked at any time, there would be no law and 
order, no peace and safety, no protection for our lives and 
property. 

Now it may seem to you that the government, with all 
its laws and regulations and its officers appointed to carry 
them out, really deprives us of our liberty in many ways. 
This is quite true. But suppose the government did not 
exist. It is easy to see that the most powerful man would 
exercise his liberty without regard to those about him. 
It is necessary for us to have laws and government in order 
to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak. It is 
thus by restricting the liberty of everybody to some extent 
that the liberty of all is secured. 

36. How the government itself is restricted. You must 
not think, however, that the government can in every case 
make whatever laws it pleases. It cannot always pass 
laws that place restrictions upon our liberties. The peo- 
ple of Tennessee, like the people in all the States of the 
Union, lay down certain limits in which the government 
may act. They determine what powers the government 
may exercise and prescribe certain things which the gov- 

46 



PROTECTION OF LIBERTY 47 

ernment itself may not do. 1 We saw, for example, that the 
government may not in any case take our property by its 
right of eminent domain without paving us a just amount 
for it. Again, when we were discussing the case of a man 
brought to trial for his life, we saw that there are certain 
rights which the government has to respect. It has to 
give him a trial by jury and an opportunity to defend him- 
self in a fair and open court. More often, however, it is 
not a man's life which is at stake in such a trial but his 
liberty. He is in danger of being thrown into prison for 
the offense of which he is accused. In such cases the 
prisoner usually has the same rights that he would have 
if he were on trial for his life. In many other ways, too, 
the people place restrictions upon the powers of the gov- 
ernment so that it may not be able to interfere with the 
individual's liberty. Let us note some of the important 
restrictions which the people of Tennessee have placed 
upon their government — restrictions which prevent the 
government from interfering with certain of their liberties. 
37. Protection of our freedom of speech. In some coun- 
tries today, as for instance in Russia, people have to be 
very careful what they say about the government. News- 
papers are prohibited from publishing articles criticising 
the government ; an officer called a censor is appointed to 
examine everv article of news that they propose to publish. 
The object of this is to keep the people ignorant of what 
the government is doing. Even in countries much better 
governed than Russia, as for instance in Germany, the 
individual has to be very careful what he says about the 

x This is accomplished by what is known as a Constitution. The 
Constitution is drawn up by representatives chosen by the people. 
It limits the powers of the government to interfere with certain of 
our liberties, and the government itself has no power to change the 
Constitution without the consent of the people. See chapter VIII. 



48 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

sovereign. In Tennessee, however, and indeed through- 
out the United States, there is no suppression of news in 
regard to the government. Anybody may say what he 
pleases about the affairs of the government. 

Why is such liberty permitted in America? It is be- 
cause we believe that the more the people know about 
the government the better government we shall have. It 
is necessary, therefore, that the people be permitted to 
discuss the actions of the government very freely. Some- 
times bad officers get control of the government. It is 
right that the people should know this. On the other 
hand, good officers and good laws are sometimes con- 
demned, and the liberty that we enjoy as a people in this 
respect is abused. This is, of course, unfortunate. But 
even though this liberty of speech is sometimes abused, it 
would be far worse if we were kept in ignorance of what 
the officers of the government are doing. 

During the second administration of President Washington and 
the administration of his successor, John Adams, the newspapers 
of the country became very violent and abusive in their attacks 
upon the national government. Congress sought to put a stop to 
this annoyance. They passed a law for the punishment of those 
who published scandalous articles about the government- This was 
regarded at the time as a serious interference with the liberty of 
the people. It was questionable whether Congress had the power 
to pass such an act. Both James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, 
in the famous Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, expressed their 
hearty disapproval. The law remained in force only three years, 
and no attempt has ever been made since then to pass a law re- 
stricting the freedom of speech. 

While we are secure in our right to discuss the govern- 
ment whenever we please, we may not, however, say what- 
ever we choose about our fellowmen. Suppose one mar? 
could say whatever he desired about another without fear 



PROTECTION OF LIBERTY 49 

of punishment. It would often happen that stories would 
be told and published that would seriously hurt an inno- 
cent man's reputation and business. Indeed this is some- 
times done. Whenever a person can prove in court 
that he has been slandered by another, the law provides 
that his slanderer shall pay him a sum of money equal 
to the loss that he has sustained. This, of course, is not 
always sufficient to protect him, for it is difficult to meas- 
ure a man's reputation in money. It is sufficient, how- 
ever, in many cases to prevent men from making malicious 
attacks upon the personal character of others. 

38. Protection of our freedom of religion. Several cen- 
turies ago, in England and in other countries, people held 
such strong opinions about religious matters that those 
who controlled the government would often pe~s?ciV ? 
those who held beliefs different from their own. You re- 
call that the Puritans left England and Holland and estab- 
lished themselves in Xew England in order that they mi~\t 
worship God as they chose. 

Even after religious persecutions had generally ceased 
among civilized people, the governments of most countries 
continued to prescribe a certain religion which was known 
as the "state religion". No one could vote or hold office 
who was not a member of the so-called "established 
church"-^that is, the church established and supported by 
the government. This state of affairs continues today in 
some countries. In others, as for example in England, 
while all such restrictions upon office holding and voting 
have been removed, the church is still supported by the 
government. People, however, are free to worship at any 
church they choose. 

In this day and generation we can scarcely understand 
how disagreeable it was to have the government impose 



50 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

one particular church upon all the people. We are ac- 
customed to living in communities where every man is 
permitted to worship wherever he chooses and according 
to any form he desires. Nor is any man today required 
by law to contribute to the support of any church. From 
the beginning of her history as a State the people of Ten- 
nessee have prohibited the government from establishing 
any particular church. 

39. Protection of our personal freedom. So long as we 
obey the laws of the. community in which we live, we can- 
not be restrained in our freedom to do as we please. We 
may move about freely from place to place. We cannot 
be forced to remain in any one community, nor can we be 
compelled to render service to any other person. Of 
course it is the duty of a man who is at the head of a 
family to provide support for his family, and this fre- 
quently requires him to render service to other people for 
which he is paid. This, however, does not bind one man 
to serve another. Children, too, are not wholly free from 
restraint. They are naturally under the protection of 
their parents, and their freedom is in that respect very 
properly denied to them. 

Before the War between the States, almost the entire 
negro population of Tennessee, in common with the ne- 
groes of the rest of the South, was held in slavery. These 
slaves were bought and sold; indeed they were ex- 
changed very much like other property. Although they 
were in most cases treated kindly by their masters, they 
did not enjoy any degree of personal freedom. They were 
compelled to do just what their owners required of them. 
As a result of the War, however, the negroes were made 
free, and today they enjoy the same amount of personal 
freedom that is enjoyed by the white population. It is 



PROTECTION OF LIBERTY 



51 



now a general principle of government throughout the 
United States that no man is to be deprived of his liberty 
to do as he pleases so long as he obeys the laws of the 
community in which he lives. 

40. Summary. You will perhaps understand more fully 
now what we mean when we speak of our liberty in the 
community. It is true that the laws which the govern- 
ment makes require many things of us and prevent us 
from doing others; but as we have seen, this is necessary 
to protect the rights and liberties of all. You must bear 
in mind, too, that the government itself is controlled by 
the people. It cannot deprive us of certain of our funda- 
mental liberties. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. What are some of the rules of your school that restrict your 
liberty? Why, for instance, are you not allowed to talk whenever 
you choose, or to move about as you choose, or to make disturb- 
ances? How would these things conflict with the rights of 
others? Explain, then, what liberty in the schoolroom means. 

2. How is your liberty in the family restricted? Who makes 
the rules which you must obey in the home? Why are they made? 

3. Compare the restrictions upon your liberty in the school and in 
the family with the restrictions which the government places upon 
the liberties of people living in the community. Why are these 
latter restrictions necessary? What, then, do we mean by liberty 
in a community? 

4. Can the government restrict the liberty of the people to any 
extent it chooses? Can the government, for instance, prohibit 
freedom of speech? W T hat do we mean by freedom of speech? 
Can one man say or print anything he chooses about another with- 
out fear of punishment? 

5. Does the government prescribe what church you shall attend? 
Could it do so if it wished? Why? Did the government of Ten- 
nessee ever make such laws? What is meant by an "established 
church?'' 



52 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

6. Could the government arrest you and throw you into prison 
without any cause? Suppose you were suspected of having com- 
mitted a crime, would you be arrested? What rights would you 
have? Would the government have to prove you guilty? 

7. Did you ever hear or read that some officer of the government 
was unworthy of his position? Have the people in Tennessee the 
right to talk freely about the government? What good results 
from this? What evil sometimes results? What liberties do all 
of us enjoy? 



CHAPTER V 

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DOES TO HELP US 
IN OUR DESIRE FOR KNOWLEDGE 

41. Why the government promotes education. Many of 
our histories record the famous remark made by Governor 
Berkeley, of Virginia, in his report to the Commissioners 
of the Colonies in 1671. "I thank God", he said, "there 
are no free schools or printing presses, and I hope we shall 
not have any these hundred years. " We of this day can 
scarcely understand what could have prompted such a re- 
mark as this. It seems almost as if our whole lives were 
centered around our schools and printing presses. What 
could Governor Berkeley have meant? His declaration 
certainly had a deeper meaning than we may at first be- 
lieve. It is a well known fact of history that people can be 
held under a tyranical government only by being kept 
ignorant, and this was exactly what Governor Berkeley 
had in mind. He realized very fully that as soon as the 
common people began to think for themselves, there 
would no longer be any possibility of the government's 
oppressing them. They would rise up and demand those 
rights which they had come to understand through educa- 
tion. As soon as people begin to learn things, as soon as 
they begin to read and write, they begin to feel their 
power, and they immediately want to govern themselves. 

It is just as true, however, that we as a people are not 
capable of governing ourselves unless our minds have been 
trained, unless we have studied earnestly, unless we are 

53 



54 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

intelligent and well read. This is the reason why in the 
United States every State undertakes to provide schools 
for the people. The establishment of schools is the chief 
way in which the government can promote knowledge 
among a people and make them better citizens. Nearly 
everybody now admits that in a democracy— thai is, a com- 
munity in which the people govern themselves— the gov- 
ernment must provide schools for all the children. 

42. The history of public education in Tennessee. The 
early settlers of Tennessee were by no means illiterate peo- 
ple. 1 While no records of early education were kept, there 
are nevertheless numerous references to schools, and it is 
certain that the first settlers in the State did not ignore the 
importance of education. 

The first settlements in Tennessee were made largely by 
Presbyterians. The preacher in the early community was 
also the teacher. The result of this was that the first 
schools in Tennessee were private schools, closely con- 
nected with the church. In fact public schools were 
scarcely thought of previous to the year 1806. „ In that 
year the government of the United States passed a law 
setting aside a large amount of land in Tennessee for the 
purpose of establishing schools for the children of the 
State. Unfortunately, however, it was found that the best 
of these lands were already owned and occupied ; so that, 
after all, very little money was secured for schools. 

In the year 1823 the government of Tennessee took the 
first step in the direction of providing public education for 
the children of the State. School commissioners were ap- 

a Of the one hundred and ten pioneers of Washington District 
that signed the petition for annexation to North Carolina, only two 
were unable to write their own names ; and of the two hundred 
and fifty-six signatures to the "Articles of Agreement" of the Cum- 
berland settlement, only one was by mark. 



PROMOTION OF EDUCATION 



55 



pointed, and public funds were provided. These funds 
were to be used either to establish free schools or to pay 
the tuition of poor children in private schools. But these 
schools were called "poor schools ;" and when people took 
advantage of this means to secure education for their chil- 
dren, they felt that they were accepting charity. Even 
when they were too poor to pay for their children's educa- 
tion, they were usually too proud to accept the assistance of 
the government. It was many years before the people of 
Tennessee got away from this absurd idea that the public 
schools were a charity. It was many years before they 
came to believe, as they do today, that public schools 
should be established and maintained for all the children 
of the State whether they are poor or whether they are 
rich. 

From 1823 until the beginning of the War between the 
States the government of Tennessee continued to make 
some provision for public education. Rut the total amount 
of money was always small : the schools continued to be 
known as " poor schools ;" and the vast majority of the 
children of Tennessee were still receiving their education 
in private schools. 

In 1853. Andrew Johnson, then Governor of Tennessee, 
and afterwards President of the United States, urged that 
the State should make better provision for the mainte- 
nance of schools. He said: "If we are sincere in what we 
profess for the cause of education, we should, without hesi- 
tation, provide means to accomplish it. There is one way, 
if no other, that the children of the State can be educated, 
and that is to levy and collect a tax from the people of the 
whole State, or to authorize the County Courts to do so in 
their respective counties." At his suggestion the tax was 
levied, and the fund for school purposes was doubled. 



56 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

But the terrible War between the States followed so soon 
after this that no system of public schools was established. 

By 1873 our State was beginning to recover from the 
effects of the war. The days of reconstruction were com- 
ing to a close. More money was becoming available for 
public schools. In that year the school system of the State 
was completely reorganized; and from that time to the 
present day the work of providing more and better schools 
has gone steadily on. Indeed it may be said that our pres- 
ent system of schools dates from the year 1873. 

It has often been remarked that the Northern States 
were far in advance of the Southern States in establishing 
public schools. The Governor of Connecticut, at the same 
time that Governor Berkeley made his outrageous remark 
about free schools and printing presses, wrote to the Com- 
missioners, saying: "One-fourth of the annual revenue 
of the colony is laid out in maintaining free schools for the 
education of our children." This certainly showed a marked 
difference in the attitude of the two colonies toward edu- 
cation — a difference which lasted in general until after the 
War between the States. Why was it that Tennessee and 
the rest of the South was so long in establishing public 
schools? There were several good reasons. 

In the first place, Tennessee, like the other States of the 
South, was settled in plantations widely scattered over the 
State. The people of the country districts, therefore, lived 
far apart from one another. Even if the government 
had in early times attempted to establish schools, it would 
have been difficult for the children in the outlying districts 
to attend them. 

Moreover, there was in Tennessee a large population of 
negro slaves. This fact caused society to be divided into 
three classes. There was first a wealthy class of land- 




- 

Q 

< 



u 
CO 






58 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

owners and slave-owners, together with the professional men 
of the State. Next there was a class of white people consist- 
ing of mechanics, artisans, and laborers, who were de- 
spised by the negroes. And lastly there was the slave 
population. Now the government of Tennessee was 
almost exclusively in the hands of the first of these classes. 
The people of this class had money and the opportunity 
to provide education for their children by other means 
than at the public expense. They did not see the neces- 
sity, therefore, for general public education in order that 
all the people might share in the government. 

In New England, however, where public education first 
flourished, conditions were very different. The people 
settled in towns and on small farms. They were all close 
together, and it was easy for the children to get to a school 
if it was provided for them. There were few negro slaves 
in these communities, society was not divided into classes, 
and nearly everybody took some part in the popular gov- 
ernment. Under such conditions it was natural that each 
of these town communities should establish a school for 
all the children. You can readily understand, therefore, 
why public education developed early in New England, 
and why it failed to develop in Tennessee and the rest of 
the South. 

43. How the family should help to promote knowledge. 

There are many ways in which the family can and ought 
to assist in educating its members whenever it can afford 
to do so. There ought to be newspapers, magazines, and 
books in every household, and the children should be en- 
couraged in the reading of good literature. Sometimes 
the wealthier families in a community employ special 
teachers for their children. Sometimes they pay for their 
education at private schools and colleges. It is very 



PROMOTION OF EDUCATION §£ 

clear, however, that if this were the only means afforded 
for the education of the children in any community, the 
result would be that only the well-to-do families would be 
educated. This, as we have just seen, was once the situa- 
tion in the South. It is equally clear that if every child in 
the community is to have the opportunity of an education, 
the community must provide the schools. 

Perhaps the foremost duty of the family is to see that 
children are sent to school. Parents sometimes fail to 
realize their own responsibility. The government indeed 
provides the schools, but it is the duty of parents to see 
that their children take advantage of every opportunity 
for education that is within their reach. 

44. What the government of Tennessee aims to do for 
education. It is the aim of the government to place within 
reach of every child in the State a well equipped graded school 
and to establish in each county at least one high school. 
But the government has to face many difficulties in accom- 
plishing this high purpose. In the first place, the necessary 
money is not always easy to secure. Sometimes the poorer 
communities object to giving a great deal of money for the 
establishment and support of schools. They prefer to have 
the public money spent for good roads or some other pur- 
pose. And even when schools are established, they some- 
times prevent their children from attending them because 
they need them to work at home or on the farm. In 1913, 
however, the government decided to compel all children be- 
tween eight and fourteen years of age to attend school, and 
to punish those parents who failed to require their children 
to do so. 

Another difficulty which the government has to face in 
the building up of a system of schools is caused by the 
fact that our population is divided into two races. There 



6o 



HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 



must be separate schoois ior each race, and the expense is 
in consequence often doubled. All the children of school 
age in a given community may not be more than fifty, 
but if twenty-five of these are colored children, there must 
be two schools. 

The government, however, has accomplished a great 
deal in the way of overcoming these obstacles. The re- 
sponsibility for establishing and supporting good schools 




Hamilton County High School 

One of the handsomest school buildings in Tennessee, situated 

near Chattanooga 

rests largely with each county or city, but the State govern- 
ment recognizes that it must also assist in building up 
the school system. It therefore appropriates a part of 
the money necessary for the maintenance of schools in 
each community, and requires the counties to supply the 
rest of the money needed. School buildings in the coun- 



PROMOTION OF EDUCATION 6l 

try districts of Tennessee have to be erected largely by 
private subscription. In many cases it would be a great 
improvement if the money at hand were spent in main- 
taining larger and better equipped schools rather than in 
the support of a great many small and inefficient schools. 
The School Improvement Association of Tennessee is 
endeavoring to organize School Improvement Leagues in 
the communities throughout the State. The object of 
these leagues is to arouse interest in public education, and 
to exert their influence for the improvement of school 
conditions. It is evident that the government of the State 
and many private individuals and associations are doing a 
great deal in order to provide the children of Tennessee 
with excellent educational opportunities. 

45. Education in cities. Cities usually provide better 
equipped schools than the country districts are able to 
afford, and it is easy to see why this should be the case. 
The cities are always wealthier than the rural communi- 
ties, and can more easily get money for the schools. There 
are many more children to be provided for, and since 
these children live close together, they find no difficulty 
in getting to and from school. In every city of Tennessee 
there is a school within walking distance of every child. 
The organization of the schools is also usually better than 
that of the country schools. This results from the fact 
that in the cities it is possible for the superintendent of 
schools to keep constantly and closely in touch with the 
every-day conditions of his schools. In every city, more- 
over, and in many towns and counties, a high school is 
provided so that the young people may continue their 
education beyond the elementary studies. 

46. What the government does for higher education. In 
Tennessee, as in most of the States of the Union, the gov- 



62 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

ernment is not content with providing graded and high 
schools for the boys and girls of the State. Some pro- 
vision is also made for higher education. The University 
of Tennessee, at Knoxville, was established in 1806 with 
funds received from the sale of public lands given by the 
United States government to the State of Tennessee for 
educational purposes. From that day to this, the Uni- 
versity has been educating men whose influence has been 
felt not only in Tennessee but also in the affairs of the na- 
tion. Since 1903, the government has made regular ap- 
propriations for the support of the University. At the 
present time one and three-fourths per cent of the total re- 
sources of the State is given to the University every year. 
The Medical and Dental Departments of the University of 
Tennessee are located at Nashville. Provision has 
also been made for the establishment and support of three 
normal schools for white teachers, and one industrial and 
agricultural normal school for the training of colored 
teachers. 

47. What the school does for the community. We have 
been discussing the question of what the community, or '. 
the government is doing for the schools. The question" 
naturally arises, why should the government go to all of. 
this trouble and spend all the money necessary to establish, 
an adequate school system? We saw that one of tlie 
reasons for this was that the people of any community 
must be educated if they are to govern themselves intelli- 
gently. (See page 53.) You must not think, however, 
that schools are provided simply that men may know how 
to vote intelligently. There are a great many other good 
reasons why every community ought to establish, encour- 
age, and support schools. Let us see what some of these_ 
reasons are. 



PROMOTION OF EDUCATION 



63 



In the first place, educated men understand some things 
which uneducated men do not understand. Knowing 
more things and having trained minds, they make better 
farmers, better store-keepers, better business men. They 
can earn more money, and whatever a man earns for him- 
self, you must understand, increases the wealth and pros- 
perity of the community in which he happens to live. 




The University of Tennessee 

Bird's-eye view of the picturesque campus of the State 

University located at Knoxville 

In the second place, your life within the school is very 
similar to the life you are to lead in the community. Just 
as in the community people have desires, so in the school 
the pupils have desires — desires for health, for possessions, 
for liberty, for knowledge, for progress. The purpose of 
the school is to assist the pupil in the attainment of these 
desires. But there are also conflicts in the desires which 
different pupils have, and as a result there are rules or laws 



64 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

of the school which must be obeyed. The teachers and the 
principal, backed by the superintendent and the school 
board, make and enforce these laws. They correspond to 
the government in a community ; they are the govern- 
ment of the school. You thus see that in your life in the 
schoolroom you are face to face with many of the same 
conditions which people meet in community life. You 
are trained at school into habits of obedience. You are 
taught to respect your elders and superiors, to be courte- 
ous always to your fellow-students, and to be considerate 
of their rights and privileges. The good habits you form 
and the training you receive in school are just what you 
need to make you a better citizen in your community. 
Sometimes these facts are lost sight of in the every-day life 
of the schoolroom, but even when they are not brought to 
your attention, they are not without effect. Training for 
good citizenship is always present in the schoolroom. 

In the third place, our outlook is broadened by educa- 
tion. We learn of many things that have happened during 
the world's history, and of many more that are happening 
today. We learn to understand and appreciate many old 
things and to see many new things. We come to enjoy 
good books and other high forms of pleasure. We see 
our duty to our community more clearly. We are more 
willing to devote our time to the service of our community 
and State ; and perhaps we are trained so that we will make 
efficient servants of the public. 

Of course there are some exceptions to this. Not all 
educated men are noble, and high-minded, and considerate 
of the welfare of their community, but it is true that this is 
the general effect of education upon a people. You can 
easily see, then, what the school does in return for all that 
the community sacrifices to build and maintain iv. 



PROMOTION OF EDUCATION 



65 



In one other way does the school improve the ccm 
munity. It often advances the prosperity of the commu- 
nity by increasing the value of property and attracting new- 
residents. People do not always realize the truth of this. 
When families with children desire to move from one com- 
munity to another, they are often very particular to in- 
quire about the schools. They are unwilling to settle in 
any place unless there is a good school near at hand. This 




Morrill Hall 
Agricultural Building of the University of Tennessee 

is true both in the city and in the country districts. More- 
over, whenever a handsome school is built in any commu- 
nity, the property around the school nearly always ad- 
vances in value. People want to live close to the school, 
and they are willing to pay for the privilege of doing so. 
48. Other ways in which the government promotes know- 
ledge. We have seen that the public schools are the chief 
means by which the government fosters education in the 



66 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

community. The government does many other things, 
however, to advance knowledge among the people. It 
has established in Knoxville an institution in which the 
deaf and dumb receive education appropriate to their 
needs, and at Nashville a similar school for the blind. A 
few miles from Nashville there is an Industrial School 
where boys and girls are sent to be instructed in useful 
trades and to receive moral training, in order that they may 
not in after years become criminals who violate the laws 
of the community. 

There is in the Capitol at Nashville a large library 
owned and supported by the State government. More- 
over, in many of the cities of Tennessee free libraries have 
been established. In Nashville, Chattanooga, and Jack- 
son the library buildings were given by Mr. Andrew 
Carnegie, and the libraries in each case are supported at 
the expense of the city. Memphis has a magnificent pub- 
lic library building, which was a private gift. The library 
is supported by the city and by private donations. The 
public library of Knoxville was the gift of a private cit- 
izen and is supported partly by endowment and partly by 
private subscriptions. Cookeville and other towns also 
have excellent public libraries. 

49. Summary. It is evident that the communities in Ten- 
nessee are making a marvelous progress in the advance- 
ment of education and the promotion of knowledge among 
the people. There is much yet to be done. The day is 
not far distant, however, when every child in the State of 
Tennessee may have the opportunity, at least, of securing 
a splendid education, free of all direct cost to his family, 
under the patronage and support of the government. 



PROMOTION OF EDUCATION 67 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. What evidences are there in your community that the govern- 
ment is helping the people to attain knowledge? Are there public 
schools? Is there a public library? Is there a high school? A 
public institution of higher learning? 

2. Explain how your life in the school corresponds to life in 
your community. What constitutes the school government ? Who 
makes and who enforces the laws? Do you see how your school 
training will help to make you a better citizen? In what way? 

3. Do the people of Tennessee govern themselves? What kind 
of government is this called? Why is education necessary for 
people who govern themselves? 

4. What are some of the reasons why public education did not 
develop in Tennessee and the South before the War? Why did it 
develop in New England? 

5. Tell what you know of the school system of your community. 
If there is no high school near you, are the people talking of build- 
ing one? W r ho is your county or city superintendent? What are 
the duties of the school board? Do you know any of its members? 

6. Is your school a graded or an ungraded school? Is your 
school building old or new? How was it paid for? 

7. Who builds and pays for the support of public schools? Why 
does the government do this? Suppose the government did not 
provide schools, are there not many children who would be de- 
prived of an education? 

8. In what way does the family assist in education? What is 
the duty that parents owe their children? What duty do you as 
pupils owe yourselves? 



CHAPTER VI 

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DOES TO PROMOTE 
COMMUNITY PROGRESS 

50. What community progress is. It is very necessary 
that the people who live in a community shall have daily 
intercourse with one another, and that this intercourse 
shall be made as comfortable and easy as possible. This 
calls for good roads and streets, and for railroad, steam- 
boat, and trolley lines. Means must be provided also by 
which the people of one community may have communi- 
cation with the people of other communities. This re- 
quires that a system of post-offices be established, as well 
as telegraph and telephone service. Most of us, too, de- 
sire beautiful things around us, not only in our homes, 
but when we go out into the highways which are the 
common property of all the people of the community. The 
eye is pleased with the sight of such things as beautiful 
buildings, and monuments, well paved streets and attrac- 
tive parks. Now we usually have in mind undertakings of 
this kind when we speak of community progress. 

We must bear in mind, however, that each of us is very 
largely responsible for the progress that our community 
makes. The improvements that we put upon our own 
property help to improve the community. When we plant 
grass and flowers in our yards, we improve the appear- 
ance of the streets. When children refrain from scatter- 
ing paper in the streets, from defacing trees and shrubs, 

68 



PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY PROGRESS 69 

from marking on fences and walls, they help to keep their 
community clean and attractive. When a man advances 
his own business interests, he promotes the welfare of the 
community as a whole, for the prosperity of the com- 
munity is measured by the prosperity of those who live in 
it. In many ways each of us can assist in promoting the 
progress of our community. 

Sometimes, too, large companies are formed for the 
purpose of carrying on enterprises which advance com- 
munity progress. Railroads, trolley lines, boat lines, the 
telegraph and the telephone service, are all owned and 
operated by private companies for the purpose of gain. 
The progress of any community is very dependent upon 
such undertakings as these. 

In many cases, however, neither an individual nor a 
stock company is willing to undertake those things that 
are necessary for the progress of the whole community. 
Most of them require a very large outlay of money, and 
from many of them no profit can be derived. It then be- 
comes the duty of the government to undertake these 
great enterprises. They call for the expenditure of a large 
amount of money, but they increase the comfort, the pleas- 
ure, and the pride of all the members of the community, 
and they make communication and intercourse easier. 

51. Why good roads are necessary. Many people, espe- 
cially those who live in cities, think that with the present 
system of railroads there is no longer any necessity for 
having good driving roads. They say that articles of 
food and products for manufacture are brought into the 
great cities almost entirely by railroads or boat lines. They 
would perhaps be surprised to learn that ninety-five per 
cent of these articles have first to be hauled by wagons 
over the country roads to depots and wharves. And it 



70 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

must be remembered that the people living in cities are 
absolutely dependent upon the people of the country dis- 
tricts both for their food and for the raw materials which 
they use in factories. The problem of good roads, there- 
fore, is one in which all of us should be deeply interested. 

52. What the government in Tennessee does for good 
roads. In the early history of Tennessee, most of the 
roads were built either by private individuals or by com- 
panies organized for this purpose. The government of 
the State frequently assisted these companies by granting 
them money. The roads built in this manner were known 
as turnpikes, and the owners of them collected a toll from 
every person and vehicle that passed over them. Many 
such roads were built, especially in Middle Tennessee. As 
the population increased, however, it became evident that 
the community would have to undertake the construction 
of roads for the benefit of all. The policy of granting 
money to private companies ,was therefore abandoned in 
1840. Since that time most of the turnpikes have passed 
into the hands of the counties in which they are situated 
and have become free public roads. At present nearly all 
of the roads in Tennessee are owned and maintained by 
the government, although there are still a few toll roads 
operated by private companies, as for instance, the road 
from Lebanon to Smithville, and that from Gallatin to 
Carthage. 

The law now requires that every able bodied man in 
Tennessee, between eighteen and fifty years of age, shall 
give a certain portion of his time, not to exceed eight 
days each year, to work on the building and repairing of 
roads. This law does not, however, apply to men living 
in towns and cities. Each county has control over its 
own roads, and for many counties there are special road 



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The Same Road at the Same Point After Improvement 



J2 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

laws differing from the general law of the State. Officers 
are appointed to superintend the work on the roads and to 
call out the men residing in the several road districts o{ 
the county for work on the roads. By paying a specified 
amount any man may be released from his duty to work 
on the roads. In case a man who is called fails to appear, 
and fails also to pay this specified amount, he is subject 
to fine. 

In many counties in the State good roads are now being 
built at the expense of the county, but these are only the 
principal roads. It is still necessary to call upon the citi- 
zens to work on the less important roads. Each county 
also distributes some money to the several road districts 
to help in constructing and maintaining the roads ; and 
in some cases county and city convicts are employed for 
this purpose. 

These methods used for constructing and repairing 
roads in Tennessee have not proved highly successful. 
Some people have the idea that anybody can build a road. 
As a matter of fact, the building of a good road requires 
the skill of a trained engineer, and most citizens do not 
possess this necessary training. In some counties, how- 
ever, a superior of roads is appointed, and the law re- 
quires that he shall be an engineer. The time will prob- 
ably soon come when the State of Tennessee will realize 
that it is absolutely necessary to adopt a different method 
of providing for this most important matter of road build- 
ing. 

53. How the government controls railroads. In Europe 
many of the railroads are owned and operated by the gov- 
ernment, but in the United States this plan is not adopted. 
The government realizes, however, that the people are 
very dependent upon railroads, and it lends every encour- 



PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY PROGRESS 73 

agemcnt to the building of new lines through parts of the 
country where there are poor railway facilities. For in- 
stance, as we have already noticed (see page 44), it gives 
to the railways the right to take property wherever neces- 
sary, under the power of eminent domain, provided al- 
ways that the owner shall be justly paid for the property 
that is taken. The government realizes, too, that the 
individual members of a community are very much at the 
mercy of railroads. They may charge exorbitant fares 
and freight rates, or they may be inconsiderate of the 
traveler's comfort. The government has. therefore, found 
it necessary to subject railroads to very rigid control. 

In Tennessee there has been established a commission, 
known as the State Railroad Comi, whose duty it is 

to make regulations for the control of the railroads in the 
people's interests. The commission consists of three men. 
It has the power to supervise the railroads of the State, 
and to require them to provide comfortable and convenient 
service for the public. The commission can even punish 
railways by heavy fines in case they refuse to obey its 
orders. The members of the commission are given the 
right also to examine the books of the railways and to 
require reports from them, in order that they may at all 
times be thoroughly in touch with the affairs of every rail- 
road. 

Most of our large railways extend beyond the State of 
Tennessee into neighboring States. Of course the gov- 
ernment of Tennessee cannot completely control the opera- 
tions of such railways. Wherever these conditions exist, 
it is necessary for the national government at Washington 
to undertake the control. (See page 163.) 

54. How the government controls waterways. The rivers 
of the State of Tennessee are the propertv of the whoia 



74 



HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 



people. No one can claim these waterways as a part of 
his property. Before the days of the steam-engine or even 
of good driving roads, much of the travel and most of the 
freight traffic was carried on by means of the waterways. 
Tennessee is peculiarly fortunate in having a number of 
navigable rivers. The government does many things for 
the improvement of the means of navigation. It provides 
for the dredging of rivers and harbors in order that the 




A Rural Electric Line 

This viaduct, forming a part of a rural electric 

railway, is built of solid concrete. 

larger boats may be able to navigate them. It surveys and 
makes charts of the channels of these waterways in order 
that boats may not become grounded in shallow water. 
It makes regulations for the pilots who are to steer boats 
through these channels, and in many other" ways it pro- 
vides for security of travel by water. To aid navigation, 
locks are being established in some of our rivers at great 
expense to the government. 



PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY PROGRESS 75 

55. How the government controls trolley lines. With the 
use of electricity in transportation vast systems of trolley 
lines have grown up in and near many of the cities of Ten- 
nessee. The government finds it necessary to control 
these lines in much the same way that it controls steam 
railways. No company can use the streets of a city for 
the operation of electric cars without the consent of the 
government. In return for its consent the government 
reserves the right to fix the fares to be charged, and to 
regulate such things as the speed of the cars and the fre- 
quency with which they must run. 

These trolley lines form a network of tracks through- 
out the larger cities. They provide easy means of trans- 
portation from one part of the city to another, and they 
frequently extend a considerable distance into the country 
districts. Around the larger cities of Tennessee extensive 
rural trolley lines have developed. The city of Memphis 
is connected with a number of towns in the surrounding 
territory by trolley. Nashville is connected with Franklin 
and other towns. Likewise Chattanooga is connected with 
Lookout Mountain, St. Elmo, and other towns. 

Many advantages have resulted from the growth of 
suburban electric lines. People no longer have to live 
near their place of work. At little cost and in a short 
time they can be carried away from the city to pleasant 
homes in the surrounding country. There they enjoy 
better air and have some of the advantages of country 
life. Land, too, is always cheaper on the outskirts of a 
city, and people of small means can more easily establish 
homes of their own. 

56. Transportation and progress. In what we have said 
about roads, waterways, railways, and electric lines, we 
have frequently used the word "transportation," which 



?6 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

means the methods by which persons and freight are car- 
ried from one point to another. In modern times it is 
very necessary that transportation be made easy, safe, 
and comfortable. People have to move from place to place 
very frequently. They cannot afford to waste much time 
in travel. The more quickly they are enabled to reach 
their destination with safety, the more they can accomplish. 
It thus happens that the progress of a community can 
often be measured very definitely by the means of trans- 
portation which the community affords. 

57. What the government does for the transmission of 
news. Postal service. Even as far back as the colonial 
period a crude system of post-offices was established, 
largely through the influence of Benjamin Franklin. At 
first it was a private undertaking, but the people very soon 
realized that it was an enterprise affecting the interests of 
the whole country. It was not long, therefore, before it 
was taken over by the government. Today the business 
of carrying the mails is owned and operated exclusively by 
the national government at Washington. 

In early days the mails were subjected to the same de- 
lays and difficulties that attended travel. They were car- 
ried by horsemen or stage-coaches, and postage was very 
expensive. After the building of railroads there came a 
reform in the service. The charges for postage were 
greatly reduced, for the government came to realize that 
cheaper and quicker service was necessary for the progress 
of the whole country. 

Since the first reduction of postage rates, many other 
reforms have been introduced to improve the usefulness of 
the postal service to the people. One of these more recent 
progressive steps has been the establishment of what is 
known as "rural free deliveries. " Where such delivery routes 



PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY PROGRESS 



77 



have been established in the country districts,, the farmer no w 
gets his letters and newspapers promptly, and without the 
necessity perhaps of a long trip to the post-office. Another 
recent reform was the establishment of "postal savings 
banks" in connection with many post-offices throughout the 
country. These banks were provided largely for two classes 
of persons : first, for those who, for one reason or another, 




A Rural Free Delivery Wagon 
Ready to start from the village post-office 



were unwilling to put their savings in already existing banks 
but who were entirely willing to trust them to the govern- 
ment; and secondly, for those who did not have at hand 
any bank that would pay them interest on the money which 
they had deposited. The latest reform in the postal sendee 
has been the establishment of the ''parcel post." For a long 



78 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

time small packages have been carried in the mails. Now, 
however, the government will transmit in the mails any 
package of merchandise not more than six feet in length 
and girt combined, and not weighing more than twenty 
pounds. . The rates for carrying such packages vary with 
the weight and the distance to be carried. 

On account of their weight newspapers, magazines, and 
books are more expensive to carry than letters. Yet be- 
cause such matter promotes the general knowledge and 
instruction of the people, it is carried by the government 
at lower rates, even though this policy results in great loss. 

Telegraph and telephone service. In the United States, 
the transmission of news by telegraph and telephone is a 
business undertaken by large companies for purposes of 
gain. Although the government does not own the telegraph 
and telephone systems, the companies engaged in operating 
them are subjected to strict control. The government 
realizes that we have become very dependent upon these 
methods of transmitting intelligence. It will not permit 
telegraph and telephone companies to charge exorbitant 
rates, and it usually requires them, in the interests of the 
public, to maintain a thoroughly efficient service. 

In recent years telephone systems have been installed in 
many of the country districts of Tennessee. In conse- 
quence, people who live on farms that are some distance 
apart have means for enjoying constant communication with 
one another. Moreover the telephone enables them to keep 
in touch with neighboring towns and cities both for busi- 
ness and social purposes. The rural telephone and the rural 
free delivery have proved to be of immense importance in. 
promoting the progress of our farm communities. 

58. How the government controls the streets. In cities, 
as we have seen, the streets are the common property of 



PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY PROGRESS 



79 



all the people and are controlled by the government for 
the people's benefit. Their chief use is for walking and 
driving. The government, however, allows the streets to 
be used for many other necessary purposes, although it 
usually takes care that walking and driving shall not be 
seriously interferred with. Sometimes a street is tempora- 
rily closed for repairs or for excavations, and sometimes 



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A Well-Kept City Street 

Observe, however, how the appearance of the street is 

marred by the unsightly poles and wires. 

when buildings are being erected or torn down, a street is 
partially obstructed. In all of our cities, however, the 
government makes regulations to prevent people from 
placing unnecessary obstructions in the streets. When a 
large building is being erected in the business section of 
the city, you may have noticed that the sidewalk is often 
covered over in order that people may pass to and fro in 
safety. 



80 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

Frequently the government itself makes use of the 
streets for the benefit of the people. It places numerous 
mains and pipes beneath the streets for the purpose of 
carrying off the sewerage, as well as for the purpose of 
supplying water and gas to the inhabitants of the city. 
The government usually owns the sewer system and in 
many instances the water works, while some cities also 
own the gas plant, and the power-house which are used for 
lighting the streets by electricity. Whenever the government 
operates such things as these, it makes free use of the 
streets. 

Private companies are also permitted to use the streets 
for certain purposes of advantage to the people. Electric 
car companies are permitted to lay tracks and string wires. 
Telegraph, telephone, and electric lighting companies are 
also allowed to put up poles and wires. In every case, 
however, the government reserves the right to regulate 
the business of these companies (see pages 90, 145), and the 
government requires them to pay for the use which they 
make of the streets. 

The custom of stringing wires on poles along the streets 
is very objectionable. The intricate network of wires in 
the business section of the city is not only dangerous but 
presents an unsightly appearance. A movement has 
started in some of the cities of Tennessee to require all wires 
to be put in conduits under the ground, and considerable 
progress has been made in this direction. The day will 
come, too, when overhead trolley wires will wive way to 
the more improved system of placing them underground, 
although this latter system is far more expensive. 

You see therefore that the government endeavors in 
many ways to control the streets for the best interests of 
the people living in the city community. 



PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY PROGRESS 8l 

59. How the government improves the appearance of the 
community. In the country districts where people live 
scattered about on farms, whatever is done to beautify the 
community must be attended to largely by individuals. 
The farmer can do much to add to the attractiveness of his 
surroundings. In clearing out ground for cultivation, 
trees should always be left standing along the roads. Vine 
hedges are a great improvement upon bare fences of wire 
or rails. Freshly painted houses and barns, neatly kept 
barn-yards, well ordered lawns in front of the houses, trees 
and flowers — these are a few of the things that help to 
make rural communities more pleasing to the eye and more 
inspiring and attractive to live in. 

The individuals who live in cities are also largely re- 
sponsible for the attractive appearance of the community, 
but in addition the city government undertakes many 
things to improve appearances. Cleanliness is naturally 
the first consideration. To this end the government either 
requires the individual- to pave the sidewalk bordering his 
property or else assists him in paving it. In most cities, 
too, the government either macadamize the roadbeds of 
the principal streets or paves them with stone, brick, or 
asphalt. It usually provides also a force of men whose 
duty it is to keep the streets well swept. 

But cleanliness is not all ; something must be done to 
add to the beauty of the streets. Our city governments 
provide for the setting out of trees, which greatly improve 
the appearance of the streets and add to the comfort of 
those who use them during the heated season. Parks are 
also provided, with stretches of closely cropped grass, 
beautiful shade trees, beds of flowers, fountains, and well- 
kept paths. The government frequently assists in erecting 
monuments to commemorate the site of some important 



82 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

event of history, or the life of some great hero. In erect- 
ing public buildings, it is the duty of the government — a 
duty not always observed — to see not only that the build- 
ings are suited to their purpose, but that they are also an 
architectural ornament to the community in which they 
are erected. 

The grounds around school buildings can be made 
attractive at comparatively little expense. Cleanliness and 
beauty can be very easily provided for. You, as school 
children, can do many things to beautify your school build- 
ing and grounds. In most cases you can have flower beds 
in the school yard, and you yourselves can care for the 
flowers. Perhaps you can also plant trees and vines about 
the grounds. Especially, however, can you assist by tak- 
ing care of the school furniture, and by refusing to litter 
the school yard or to place unsightly pictures and writing 
on ^walls and fences. 

60. Summary. Perhaps you now have a better idea of 
how many things the government is doing to promote 
community progress. If our community has the progres- 
sive spirit, it cannot fail to be an attractive and inspiring 
place to live in. There are many things which we our- 
selves can do, but there are others that the community as 
a whole must undertake. Each of us can show our 
interest in these things and our appreciation of them. We 
can do much to make our own homes a pride to the com- 
munity. And we can certainly refrain from interfering with 
the community's efforts to keep the roads, the streets, the 
parks, and the schoolhouses clean and beautiful. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

I. What are the means afforded by your community for your get- 
ting to and from school? Is your school building attractive? Are 



PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY PROGRESS 83 

there flowers and trees in the yard? Are you pupils careful to keep 
your school neat and clean? Can you think of some things that 
could easily be done to make your school more attractive? Can you 
help in any way? 

2. What is the condition of the roads in your community? Are 
there any macadamized roads? Who attends to the repairing of the 
roads? Do you know of any road that has recently been repaired? 
How was it done? Are there any private roads in your county? 
Who owns them? Why is the method of having the farmers work 
on the roads a number of days each year unsatisfactory? Are men 
in your county permitted to pay money to the county instead of 
working on the roads? How much do they pay? Suppose they 
refuse to work and refuse also to pay? 

3. Are there any waterways near your community? Who owns 
them? Is anything being done to improve them? Do you know of 
any river that has been dredged recently? 

4. Is there a railway in your community? Who owns it? How 
does the government control it? What are the duties of the State 
Railroad Commission? 

5. Are there any electric lines in your community? Are they 
wholly within your town or city, or do they run into country? 
Who controls them? If you live in a city, is your electric car ser- 
vice good, or poor? Have the suburbs of your city grown since 
the building of electric lines? 

6. How far is your post-office from your home? Are letters deliv- 
ered to you, or do you call for them ? Why are newspapers and 
books carried for less postage than is charged for letters? Describe 
the postal savings bank. The parcel post. 

7. How far from your home is the nearest express office? The 
nearest telegraph office? Is there a telephone service in your com- 
munity? Does the government own any of these services? Does 
it control them? 

8. If you live in a city, find out who owns the waterworks. The 
gas-plant. The electric plant or plants. How are water, gas, and 
electricity distributed through the city? 

9. Does your city permit wires to be strung on poles along the 
streets? What objection is there to this? Do the electric car lines 
and the telegraph and telephone companies pay for the use they 
make of the streets? What use do they make? Whom do they 



84 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

10. Are the sidewalks of your city or town paved? Who paved 
them? Are the roadbeds of the streets paved? Who paved 
them? Are there any trees along the streets and who set them out? 
What are the names of your parks? Describe them. Are they; 
well kept? Who pays for keeping them up? 

11. Why does the government undertake these things for cities? 
Who enjoys them? Why are such things not done in the country 
districts? Can you think of anything that could be done to im- 
prove the appearance of your community? Is there anything you 
could do? 



CHAPTER VII 

HOW THE GOVERNMENT OF TENNESSEE IS 
SUPPORTED 

61. What is meant by taxation. In the foregoing chap- 
ters we have seen something of what the government does 
to assist us in the attainment of certain desires that we 
should be unable to enjoy without assistance. Have you 
stopped to consider that a great deal of money is needed 
for the working out of all these plans? In a State like 
Tennessee there must be many officers to carry on the 
work of the various departments of the government. To 
these salaries must be paid. There must be many build- 
ings, such as court-houses and jails, schoolhouses and 
libraries, city halls, fire houses, and poorhouses. There 
must be money for the improvement of roads, the paving 
of streets, the building of bridges. Where does this money 
r.ome from? It is raised by a system called taxation. 

Most of you have doubtless heard taxes spoken of, but 
you may never have understood just what they are, or why 
they are necessary. Now your attention has been called 
<o the fact that the government undertakes to do for the 
people of a community many things that promote the wel- 
fare of the community as a whole. For all these things 
money is needed. Perhaps you will appreciate more fully, 
then, why the raising of taxes is a very essential part of 
life in a community ; it is essential to the existence of the 
government, and therefore essential to the peace and the 
happiness of each of us living in the community. 

85 



86 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

What is a tax? A tax is a sum of money taken from 
the individual to be used by the government for the interest 
of the whole community. Or, as it is sometimes briefly 
put, "a tax is private property taken for a public purpose." 
You must bear in mind that taxing is taking property; for 
we must not forget that money is one form of property. 

Many people have a feeling that the payment of taxes is 
a great hardship. They look upon it almost as oppression. 
They do not see that they are doing anything wrong if they 
avoid paying their taxes whenever it is possible. They 
sometimes even make false statements in order to be re- 
lieved of the burden of taxation. They do not seem to 
realize that the government gives them something in re- 
turn for the money paid in taxes. It gives them inn;imer- 
able protections for their life, their liberty, and their prop- 
erty, and innumerable benefits such as good roads, paved 
and lighted streets, and schoolhouses. As a matter of fact, 
we should be just as willing to pay for these things as we 
are to pay for the things that we buy in the shops. Most 
of us get far more from the government, in the form of 
benefits and protections provided for us, than we ever 
actually pay for in taxes. 

You will remember also that the government sometimes 
takes property from the individuals of a community under 
the power of eminent domain, whenever their property is 
needed for the opening of a street or a road, or any other 
public purpose. (See page 43.) But this is very different 
from taking property by taxation. When the government 
exercises this power of eminent domain, it always pays the 
individual directly in money for the property it takes. In 
the case of taxes, however, the government pays the indi- 
vidual only indirectly in those general things which it 
undertakes for the common welfare of all. 



HOW THE GOVERNMENT IS SUPPORTED 87 

62. Taxation in history. It is always true that, next to 
their life and liberty, people dislike more than anything 
else to give up their property. Nothing so quickly in- 
fluences the people of a community against the govern- 
ment as the feeling that the taxes demanded of them are 
unjust. Two of the greatest questions of all times have 
been: (1) Who shall have the power to impose the taxes? 
(2) How much shall the taxes be? Terrible wars have 
been fought out over these questions. Our own Revolu- 
tionary War arose, you remember, over a dispute in re- 
gard to taxes. Parliament claimed the right to tax the 
colonies. The colonists objected and demanded the right 
to have a voice in the laying of these taxes. The war 
resulted, and we became an independent nation. 

63. The principles of taxation. Ever since the Revolu- 
tionary War it has been settled in the United States that 
the people alone shall have power to tax themselves. This 
does not mean that each person shall have the power to 
say how much he will or will not pay to the government. 
Nor does it mean necessarily that all the people must come 
together to determine this question directly. It does mean, 
however, that taxes can be levied only by those whom the 
people themselves choose, and to whom they give the 
power to impose taxes. 

The second principle of taxation is that as nearly as pos- 
sible people shall be taxed according to what they can afford 
to pay. If we look at the benefits which each of us gets 
from the government, this is perhaps not wholly just. 
The rich man, who pays large taxes, receives no more 
benefit from well-kept streets and parks, and from the 
many things which the government does to protect the 
health of the community, than does the poor man, who pays 
little or no taxes. On the other hand, if the wealthy citizen 



88 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

owns large property interests, he does receive a great deal 
of protection from the government which the poor citizen, 
owning no property, does not need. At any rate, this plan 
of taxing the individuals of a community according to their 
ability to pay is the most just principle for the levying of 
taxes that has yet been discovered. 

The third principle in our system of taxes is that taxes 
must be equally and impartially laid. All people of a cer- 
tain class and all property of a certain class must be taxed 
alike. This means that the government cannot, for in- 
stance, lay a tax of a certain amount on one man's farm or 
factory and refuse to lay a like tax on a similar farm or 
factory belonging to another man. 

These are perhaps the three most important principles of 
taxation. They form the basis of most of our methods of 
raising money for the support of the government. 

64. Taxes on property: real estate. In every community 
taxes are levied on a great variety of things, but the chief 
thing taxed is property. The law provides that all the 
owners of property shall pay annually to the government 
a certain per cent of the value of their property. When 
this property consists of land and houses — or real estate,, as 
it is called — it is easy to determine who shall pay the taxes, 
and usually it is easy to fix the amount to be paid. 

The government appoints certain officers to estimate 
what the value of each piece of property is. This is called 
assessing the' property and these officers are known as 
assessors. The taxes are then paid on the property in 
accordance with its assessed value. 

Naturally it is sometimes difficult to fix the value of a 
given piece of property. In order, therefore, that the 
owner may not be unjustly taxed, property is generally 
assessed at somewhat less than its actual value. Suppose 



HOW THE GOVERNMENT IS SUPPORTED 89 

a farm would bring, if sold, about ten thousand dollars. 
The assessors would probably place its valuation at six 
thousand dollars. If then the rate of taxation was two per 
cent, the owner would be required to pay the government 
every year two per cent of six thousand dollars, or one 
hundred and twenty dollars. This custom of assessing 
property below its real value is pretty general, although the 
law requires that all property shall be assessed at its full 
valuation. 

65. Taxes on personal property. Where the individual's 
property consists of farming implements, cattle, furniture, 
jewelry, books, and even money, it becomes very difficult 
to collect the taxes levied upon it. These things are called 
personal property. You can readily understand that it is 
easy for the owners of such property to deceive the officers 
of the government by refusing to acknowledge all that they 
possess. Unfortunately people cannot be relied upon to 
tell the truth about these things, and the result is that only 
the honest man, who is Willing to tell the whole truth, pays 
the full amount of taxes laid on his personal property. With 
lands and houses it is different, for such things cannot be 
hid. In all countries, however, taxes on personal property 
have proved to be more or less a failure. 

66. Taxes on business property. In addition to the taxes 
laid on real estate and on personal property, taxes are 
levied on almost every kind of property used ill carrying 
on business. This property is generally classed with per- 
sonal property, for it is in reality the personal property 
of those who are conducting the business. It may consist 
of wharves, landings, and vessels; of railway tracks, en- 
gines, and coaches ; of goods for sale in the shops ; or of 
machinery used in water-works, electric plants, mines, 
furnaces, rolling mills, or other manufacturing plants. In- 



90 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

deed the law imposes a tax on nearly every kind of 
property used for business purposes within the State. 

67. Other important forms of taxation. 1. License taxes. 
The government requires that before any person may en- 
gage in certain kinds of business he must obtain per- 
mission from the government. This permission is known 
as a license, and the government requires that the in- 
dividual who receives it shall pay what is known as a 
license tax. While such taxes are imposed on a great 
many different kinds of business, they are not levied on 
every business. For instance, persons who are engaged 
in the manufacture and sale of articles made from raw 
materials produced in Tennessee cannot be made to pay 
a license tax. The amount of the license tax varies with 
the nature of the business. 

2. Franchise taxes. Certain companies and corporations 
are taxed for special privileges which the government 
grants them. These taxes are called franchise taxes. Rail- 
way companies, for instance, pay such taxes for the privi- 
lege of constructing their lines and operating in the State. 
Telephone, telegraph, and express companies pay similar 
taxes. Street railway companies, water, gas, and electric 
light companies pay franchise taxes for the use which they 
make of the city streets. 

Franchise and license taxes are very much alike. We 
frequently speak of all taxes of this kind as privilege taxes, 
for they are all imposed for the privilege of conducting 
business. A franchise tax, however, is usually imposed 
for a special privilege, as for instance, the privilege of using 
the streets to lay tracks or pipes, or to string wires. 

3. Corporation taxes. Whenever a number of persons 
desire to go into business together, it is quite usual for 
them to organize a company. This company applies to 



HOW THE GOVERNMENT IS SUPPORTED 91 

the government of Tennessee for the permission to organize 
according to the laws of the State, and when the per- 
mission is granted the company is known as a corporation. 
The government imposes an annual license or privilege 
tax on every corporation so organized. 

Moreover, when a corporation organized in any other 
State desires to conduct business in Tennessee, it must pay 
the government a tax for this privilege. 

4. The poll-tax. On every male resident of Tennessee 
between twenty-one and fifty years of age a tax of Si. 00 
is levied by the State ; and in addition it is provided that 
each county may levy a similar tax not to exceed $1.00. 
These taxes are called poll-taxes, and no man can vote in 
Tennessee who has not paid all of his poll-taxes. (See 
page 151.) 

5. Special assessments. When streets or alleys are paved, 
and when sewers are laid, it sometimes happens that the 
owners of property bordering along the streets and alleys 
receive more benefit from these improvements than any one 
else in the community. The value of their property is in- 
creased by such improvements, and it seems only just that 
they should be made to pay a part of the expense. The 
government provides that a special tax shall be levied 
against the owners of such property, and these taxes are 
known as special assessments. The owners cannot, how- 
ever, be taxed beyond the amount by which the value of 
their property is increased because of these improvements. 

68. Property that is not taxed. In every community in 
Tennessee certain property is free from taxation. It would 
be absurd for the government to tax its own property — its 
public buildings, schoolhouses, roads, and streets. This 
would mean only that the government was paying itself 
taxes. The law provides that no taxes shall be imposed 



92 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

upon property that is used for religious worship, for 
private schools, or for charitable purposes. Public libraries, 
too, are in general free from taxation. Such property as 
this is not taxed because, although private in its character, 
it is in reality used for the benefit of the whole community. 
It is also provided that one thousand dollars' worth of a 
man's personal property— that is, his household furniture, 
cattle, tools, implements — shall be free from the tax 
laws ; and that the farmer shall pay no taxes on his crops. 
These provisions lighten the burden of taxation on men of 
small means and promote agricultural industry. 

69. State and local taxes. Most of these taxes that we 
have been discussing are imposed on property, business, 
and persons in all parts of the State. They are laid by the 
government of the State for the purpose of carrying on 
those affairs in which the whole State is concerned — that 
is, for the support of the State government. But the State 
government does not pay the salaries of county, city, and 
town officers, nor does it pay for the construction of 
roads in the counties, nor for the laying of sewers and 
the paving of streets in the cities. These and many other 
things are undertaken by the local governments in the 
different counties and cities of the State, and they must 
be paid for out of the funds raised in the local communities. 

It must be clear to you, then, that in addition to the 
taxes levied by the State, each community must levy taxes 
for community purposes. As a matter of fact, every 
county and city in the State of Tennessee lays a tax 
on property in addition to the State tax ; but many restric- 
tions are placed upon the local governments in the amount 
of taxes which they may impose. Cities and towns usually' 
raise a part of their funds also by placing license taxes 
on many kinds of business. 



HOW THE GOVERNMENT IS SUPPORTED 93 

We shall understand this difference between State and 
local taxes more fully a little later in our study. (See 
page 105.) The important thing for you to remember is 
that a part of the taxes we pay goes to the support of our 
State government, and another part to the support of our 
community government. 

70. How the public schools are supported. We have 
already learned about the many things that our State is 
doing to advance the cause of public education. Every 
boy and girl in Tennessee should be interested in learning 
how the funds for this purpose are secured. Most of the 
money for the support of the schools is raised by taxes im- 
posed partly by the State government and partly by the 
counties and cities, but a part of the school revenue comes 
from other sources. 

Ten years after Tennessee was admitted to the Union 
as a State (see page 100), the United States government, in 
what is known as the "Compact of 1806/' provided that six 
hundred and forty acres in every six miles square in the 
State should be set aside "for the use of the schools for 
the instruction of the children forever." But most of these 
lands were already owned and occupied ; for North Caro- 
lina, at a time when Tennessee was a part of that State, 
had granted these lands to her soldiers in return for their 
services during the Revolutionary War. The few unoc- 
cupied lands were sold at a very low price, and therefore 
little money was secured for the schools from this source. 
As we have already learned (see page 55), the government 
of Tennessee, from time to time in the years that followed, 
set aside additional funds for school purposes, using only 
the interest arising from the funds. 

Owing to improper management during the War be- 
tween the States and the few years following, nearly all of 



94 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

these school funds were lost. When our present public 
school system was established in 1873, the State govern- 
ment decided to pay these funds, amounting to $2,512,250, 
back to the schools. It pledged itself forever to give over 
to the schools the interest on this amount of money at six 
per cent a year. In 1909 the State government took 
another great step in the direction of giving more money 
to the schools. It provided that one fourth of the entire 
income of the State should be used for educational pur- 
poses ; and more than half of this amount goes to the sup- 
port of the common schools throughout the State. 

This money which the State government appropriates for 
schools is of course secured from taxes laid on property 
and other things throughout the State. It is distributed by 
the State government to the various counties of the State in 
accordance with the number of school children in the 
county. 

In addition to these funds which are distributed to the 
counties, the State government lays a tax of fifteen cents on 
every one hundred dollars' worth of property and a poll- 
tax of one dollar on every male inhabitant in the State. 
These taxes are collected in the several counties of the 
State and are used there for school purposes Moreover, 
each county levies a tax of from fifteen to fifty cents on 
every one hundred dollars' worth of property and an addi- 
tional poll-tax of not more than one dollar on every male 
inhabitant in the county. The cities also lay an additional 
tax for the support of city schools. 

As we have just noted, the State government in 1909 
set aside one fourth of its entire income for educational 
purposes, more than one half of which is used for the com- 
mon schools. The remainder of this fund is used by the 
State to assist those counties which do not ; from all these 



HOW THE GOVERNMENT IS SUPPORTED 95 

other sources, secure sufficient money to run their school: 
for six months in the year. A part of it goes also to assist 
rural schools in establishing libraries, to help county high 
schools, to support the State normal schools, and to assist 
the University of Tennessee. 

Thus you see that the revenues for our schools are se- 
cured from a number of sources. A large part of the 
money is raised ox State taxation. If the counties and 
cities, however, wish to have up-to-date, well-equipped 
schools, it is necessary for them also to appropriate lib- 
erally from their local revenues. Indeed the real efficiency of 
the schools in any community depends upon what the peo- 
ple of that community are willing to do for the schools. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. Has any public building been erected in your community re- 
cently? Try to find out how much it cost. Did the county, city, or 
State pay for the building? Why? Try to find out how the money 
was raised. Explain how this building is used for the benefit of the 
people of your community. 

2. How is money raised for the improvement of roads in your 
county? Try to find out what the tax assessment for roads is. 
Who determines this assessment? 

3. How r.re the schools supported in your county? Have any new 
schoolhouses been built recently? How much did they cost? Try 
to find out how these buildings were paid for. 

4. In what ways that you can think of do people in your com- 
munity receive benefits from the taxes they pay? Explain why it is 
dishonest to avoid paying taxes. Explain why it is wrong to look 
upon taxes as oppressoin. 

5. What part did the question of taxation play in the causes of our 
Revolutionary War? What principle of taxation was in conse- 
quence established in America? 

6. In what ways that you can think of does the owner of prop- 
erty get special benefits by paying the large taxes that are assessed 
upon him? 



96 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

7. What is the difference between real estate and personal prop- 
erty? Do you own any real estate? Any personal property? Ex- 
plain why it is easier to collect taxes on the one than it is on the 
other. 

8. What is meant by assessing property for taxation? Try to find 
out whether property in your community is said to be assessed high 
or low. What does this mean? 

9. What property that you can think of in your community is free 
from taxation? Why is it not taxed? Is your school building 
taxed? Why? 

10. Mention some other forms of taxation in Tennessee and ex- 
plain what is meant by each. 

11. What is meant by local taxes? Why are they necessary? 
Try to find out what is the local rate of taxation on real estate in 
your community. The State rate. 



CHAPTER VIII 

WHAT THE CONSTITUTION IS 

71. How Tennessee became a territory. You will recall 
from your study of history that, at the time of the Revolu- 
tionary War and the foundation of the Union of which we 
are today a part, the territory occupied by the present State 
of Tennessee was only sparsely settled. It was inhabited 
largely by Indian tribes, although there were a few impor- 
tant white settlements. As the years went on the white 
population steadily increased. The census taken in the 
year 1790 showed 35,691 settlers in this western region. 

Up to that time the territory now embraced in Tennessee 
was a part of the State of North Carolina, but in April 
1790 it was ceded by North Carolina to the government of 
the United States. The national government promptly 
provided a government for this territory, calling it the 
''Territory of the United States South of the Ohio River." 

You must bear in mind that ever since the forma- 
tion of our Union, the nation as a whole has held certain 
large tracts of land which were not a part of any State. 
The national government has usually divided these lands 
into what is known as territories. When the population 
of any territory is sufficiently large, the national Congress 
has generally permitted it to come into the Union as a 
State. As long as it remains a territory, however, Con- 
gress alone has the power to provide for its government. 
Such a territory was the "Territory South of the Ohio 
River." 

97 



98 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

72. How Tennessee was governed as a territory. Ten- 
nessee remained under a territorial government for only 
six years. Rogersville was made the Capital of the Terri- 
tory, but this was soon changed to Knoxville. William 
Blount was appointed by the President of the United 
States as Governor of the Territory. Provision was made 
by the national government for a law-making body — that 
is, a body of men having the power to make all the laws 
for the Territory. This law-making body consisted of a 
council chosen by Congress and an assembly of delegates 
elected by the people of the Territory. 

This body met in its only session in 1794. Thus the 
people of the Territory were given a share in their own 
government. They were fortunate also in having a good 
Governor and an efficient body of law-makers. 

You must understand, however, that the whole Territory 
was at all times under the direct control of the national 
government. Congress had the power at any time to 
change its form of government, abolish its law-making 
body, and repeal its laws. As we shall learn later in our 
study, Congress has no such power over a State in the 
Union. This in reality constitutes the great difference be- 
tween a Territory and a State. A State is largely inde- 
pendent of the powers of Congress. Congress has no 
power to say what laws shall be passed by the States and 
how they shall provide for their own government. More- 
over, the people of a State have a share in the government 
of the Nation, while the people of a territory do not. It 
was for these reasons that our forefathers were eager to 
have their Territory admitted to the Union as a State. 

73. How Tennessee became a State. In 1795 Governor 
Blount caused an enumeration of the people of the Terri- 
tory to be made. The population was found to be more 



WHAT THE CONSTITUTION IS 



99 



than sixty-six thousand free inhabitants and above ten 
thousand slaves. At that time Congress required that a 
territory should have a population of only sixty thousand 
before it could be admitted as a State. Governor Blount 
accordingly called a convention to meet at Knoxville in 
January, 1796. This convention was called to determine 
how Tennessee should be governed when admitted to the 
Union as a State. A document was drawn up, providing 
for a government similar to that existing in the other 
States. This written document designated what officers 
should be chosen and how they should be chosen, what 
power these officers should have, and who should make and 
enforce the laws. This is what we mean by a Constitution. 
It is a written document framed by delegates representing 
the people and providing in outline the organization of the 
State government. Every State of the Union has such a 
Constitution; and from time to time, usually at long intei- 
vals, a new convention is called and a new Constitution 
for the State is drawn up. 

The convention which framed Tennessee's first Consti- 
tution met at the appointed time. Among the many able 
members were Andrew Jackson, afterward President of 
the United States, and James Robertson, who is called the 
father of Tennessee. The region south of the Ohio river 
had for a long time been popularly known as the "Tennes- 
see Region" ; and it is said that it was Andrew Jackson 
who suggested that the new State should be called by this 
name — Tennessee. The provisions of the Constitution 
which was drawn up by the convention were very similar 
to those contained in the Constitution of North Carolina. 
Thomas Jefferson pronounced it "the least imperfect and 
most republican system of government that had been 
adopted by any of the American States." 



100 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

The Constitution was approved by Congress, and a reso- 
lution was passed admitting Tennessee to the Union as a 
State. This resolution was signed by President Washing- 
ton on June I, 1796. Thus did the "Territory of the 
United States South of the Ohio River" become the State 
of Tennessee. It was the third State to be admitted since 
the formation of the original Union of thirteen States; 
and it was the first State to be formed out of a territory 
of the United States." 1 

74. The history of Tennessee's Constitutions. In spite of 
what Thomas Jefferson said about the perfection of the 
Constitution of 1796, many defects began to show them- 
selves as time went on and the population of the State in- 
creased. In the first place, only men of considerable prop- 
erty could vote or hold office. This meant that the gov- 
ernment of the State was entirely in the hands of the 
wealthy land owners. In the second place, the Constitu- 
tion contained the curious provision that taxes should be 
laid upon lands according to the amount of land a man 
owned and not according to the value of the land. The re- 
sult of this was that a man with a poor farm paid as much 
taxes to the State as a man with a rich farm of the same 
size. The wealthy land owners were glad of this provision, 
for large tracts of the best lands of the State were in the 
hands of a comparatively few owners. In the third place, 
the Constitution provided that the people of the various 
counties should have no share in the election or appoint- 
ment of their own county officers. 

It is not surprising, therefore, when the population of 

Vermont, admitted in 1791, was formed out of territory in dis- 
pute between New York and New Hampshire. Kentucky, admitted 
in 1792, was formed out of territory belonging to Virginia. Neither 
of these States was organized as a territory of the United States 
before its admission to the Union. 



WHAT THE CONSTITUTION IS ioi 

the State had increased and had pushed westward toward 
the Mississippi river, that the people began to clamor for 
changes in the Constitution. Finally the wealthy class who 
controlled the government yielded, and a convention was 
called to meet in Xashville in 1834. This second conven- 
tion drew up a Constitution that w T as far more satisfactory 
than the first Constitution. It was adopted by the people 
in 1835, and the State was governed according to its provi- 
sions from that time until a few years after the War be- 
tween the States. 

75. Our present Constitution. During the Reconstruc- 
tion period in the South, which followed the War between 
the States, conventions met in most of the Southern States 
and drew up new Constitution for their respective States 
In most cases these conventions were composed of North- 
erners and of recently freed negroes. They did not really 
represent the people of these States. In Tennessee, how- 
ever, no such convention met, for Tennessee was re- 
admitted to her place in the Union in 1866, only one year 
after the close of the war; and the people of the State con- 
tinued to be governed under the old Constitution of 1834. 
The time had come, however, when a new Constitution 
was needed. In 1869, 50,000 people voted in favor of hav- 
ing a new Constitution, while only 10,000 voted to continue 
under the old Constitution. A convention was therefore 
called to meet in Xashville. This third constitutional con- 
vention came together and drew up the Constitution under 
which we now live. In 1870 the new Constitution went 
into effect, and it has continued in operation without 
change from that year. 

The Constitution of 1870 provides in detail how the gov- 
ernment shall be organized ; it determines all the chief offi- 
cers that shall be chosen to carry on the work of the gov- 



102 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

ernment; it states the manner in which these officers shall 
be chosen, and it outlines their powers and duties ; it deter- 
mines who shall have the right to vote and hold the various 
offices; and it provides for local governments in the dif- 
ferent communities of the State. It is the duty of the law- 
making body to pass such laws as may be necessary for 
carrying out the scheme of government provided for in 
the Constitution. 

76. The importance of the Constitution. When we were 
discussing how our liberties are protected in the commun- 
ity (see Chapter IV), we learned that we possess certain 
rights which not even the government can deny to us. 
This is because the powers of the government are re- 
stricted by the Constitution. The government can pass 
no law and do no act which violates the Constitution. It 
is the highest law of the State. It is because of this impor- 
tance that the people of the State will not trust the ordi- 
nary law-making body to change the Constitution. Such 
changes must be submitted to a vote of the people. And 
in case the law-making body thinks that a new Constitu- 
tion is needed, they must let the people vote on the ques- 
tion of whether or not a special convention shall be called 
for this purpose. 

In the chapters which follow we shall see how the ma- 
chinery of the government is organized under our present 
Constitution, and how the government is enabled to assist 
the people of Tennessee in so many ways. We shall learn 
when and how the various officers of the government are 
chosen, and what are the powers and duties of each. It 
will be unnecessary, therefore, for us to consider here in 
detail the work of that convention which met in Nashville 
in 1870, and determined upon our present form of govern- 
ment, j 



WHAT THE CONSTITUTION IS 



QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 



103 



1. How were we governed in Tennessee during the territorial 
period? Who determined our form of government? Were we per- 
mitted to make any of our laws? To choose any of our officers? 

2. Who determines our form of government today? How is this 
done? What is meant by a Constitution? How many Constitu- 
tions have we had in Tennessee? How were these Constitutions 
drawn up? 

3. Explain how the Constitution protects our liberties. Against 
whom are they protected? How may the Constitution be changed? 
Why may our law-makers not change it? 

4. When was our present Constitution framed? By whom was 
it framed? Find out, if you can, the names of any of the members 
of the convention of 1870. Who represented your county? 



CHAPTER IX 

HOW THE GOVERNMENT IS ORGANIZED 

77. What is meant by the departments of government. 
From the very beginning of constitutional government 
in America the people have believed that the laws ought 
not to be made, explained, and put into operation by the 
same men or group of men. Whenever so much power is 
given over to one group of men, there is danger that they 
will oppress the people. It is an important principle of 
our government, therefore, that there shall be one group 
of men to make the laws, another group to put them into 
operation, and a third group to explain or interpret what 
the laws mean. These three groups of officers form the 
three great departments of government. Those who make 
the laws are known as the Legislative Department. Those 
who see that the laws are carried out, or executed, com- 
pose the Executive Department. And those whose duty it 
is to determine what the law means when it is applied to a 
particular case are the Judicial Department. 

78. The State government. As you all know, some of 
the duties which the government undertakes to perform 
concern the people of the State as a whole. Take, for 
instance, laws that provide for the punishment of criminals. 
A crime is just as likely to be committed in one part of the 
State as in another. It is very clear, therefore, that all the 
people are concerned in such laws. This is only a single 
instance among a great many matters in which the people 
of the whole State have a common interest and concern. 

104 



HOW THE GOVERNMENT IS ORGANIZED 105 

You see that it would never do for any particular county 
or city to make laws for itself in regard to matters of so 
great importance. This must be done by the government 
which represents the people of the whole State. We call 
this the State government. It is this government which 
makes most of the laws that we must obey ; and as we have 
seen, it is supported by levying taxes upon the people of 
the whole State. (See page 92.) 

79. Local government. The county. You can easily 
think of certain things undertaken by the government of 
your county which do not concern the people of the whole 
State. Take, for example, the building of roads. This is 
something in which the people of each particular county are 
especially interested. It is looked upon, therefore, as a 
matter which should be undertaken and controlled largely 
by the counties. Moreover, the counties undertake to put 
many of the State laws into operation. They assess prop- 
erty and collect taxes for the State, they arrest criminals 
who violate the laws of the State : they put into execution 
the laws of the State providing for the public schools. 
Counties, therefore, are permitted to have governments of 
their own for the management of county affairs and to 
assist in carrying out the laws of the State. 

The city. Every city of Tennessee is located in some 
county and is subject to the government of that county. 
But you probably know of many things undertaken by a 
city which concern neither the people of the whole State 
nor the people of the county. The paving and cleaning 
of streets, the management of the fire department, the con- 
struction of parks — these for example, are some of the 
things undertaken by every city which do not interest the 
people living in the country districts or even the people of 
any other city. The cities of Tennessee have many duties 



106 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

to perform which are wholly of local interest. For this 
reason the city is permitted to have a local government of 
its own, in addition to the local government of the county 
in which it is located. 

The town. Still another form of government is pro- 
vided for towns. Their inhabitants live more closely 
together than do the residents of the country districts, 
but towns are not so large as cities and do not find it neces- 
sary to have such complicated governments. (See page 

147.) 

We see, therefore, that under the State government, 
which regulates the affairs of the whole State, there are 
three forms of local government — the county, the city, and 
the town. To these local governments, the Constitu- 
tion and the State legislature give certain powers to regu- 
late local affairs ; and as we have seen, they are supported 
by taxes raised for local purposes. Not only the State 
government but the local governments also are to some 
extent divided into the three great departments — -legisla- 
tive, executive, and judicial. Local laws are made, en- 
forced, and interpreted by three separate groups of officers. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. Which of the three kinds of local government has your com- 
munity? If you live in a city or a town, are you subject to your 
county government? Mention some of the things undertaken in 
your community which seem to you to be of local rather than State 
interest. Why are local governments necessary? Why are there 
three forms? How are they supported? Mention any officers of 
your community that you know of. 

2. Why is the State government necessary? Who determines the 
powers and duties of the local governments? Does the progress of 
your community depend more largely upon the State or your local 
government? Mention any officers of the State government that 
you know of. 



HOW THE GOVERNMENT IS ORGANIZED 



107 



3. Would the State government or your local government be most 
likely to make laws on the following subjects: (a) the paving of 
streets? (b) the building of a schoolhouse? (c) the regulating of a 
poorhouse? (d) riding bicycles on the sidewalks? (e) fire-escapes 
on buildings? (f) the placing of wires underground? (g) the speed 
of street cars? (h) the fencing in of farms and lots? (i) vaccina- 
tion? (j) the sale of liquors? (k) posting bills on trees or posts? 
(1) the repairing of roads? (m) the building of a court-house? 



CHAPTER X 

HOW THE STATE LAWS ARE MADE 

80. The legislature or law-making body. In Tennessee 
the branch of the government that makes the laws for the 
State is divided into two bodies, or houses, as they are 
called. Every measure proposed in either one of these 
houses must be agreed to by the other before it becomes a 
law. This prevents laws from being hastily made. One of 
these houses is known as the House of Representatives and 
the other as the Senate. Together the two houses are 
known as the General Assembly of Tennessee. 

The Constitution prescribes that the House of Repre- 
sentatives shall never consist of more than ninety-nine 
members and that the whole number of senators shall not 
exceed thirty-three. The House of Representatives is, 
therefore, much larger than the Senate. For the purpose 
of electing representatives the entire State is divided into 
house districts, each district comprising either a single 
county or a group of two or more counties. Most of these 
districts are entitled to only one representative in the 
House, but a number of them, on account of their large 
population, have more than one. At present more than 
a third of the districts consist of single counties. The 
vast majority of these single county districts have one re- 
presentative each, but the populous county of Davidson 
has six, Shelby county has five, Knox and Hamilton have 
three each, while several other counties have two each. 
The remaining districts in the State are formed of groups 

108 



HOW THE LAWS ARE MADE 109 

of two or more less populous counties, each group having 
one representative. The representative of such a group of 
counties is known as a "joint representative." 

The General Assembly itself determines how these dis- 
tricts shall be formed, as well as the number of representa- 
tives to be elected in each district. Once every ten years the 
General Assembly must determine anew the formation of 
these districts and the number of representatives for each. 
As nearly as practical each member of the House represents 
the same number of people. 1 

For the purpose of electing senators, the State is divided 
into Senatorial districts. Some of these districts consist of 
a single county, but a majority of them are formed by 
grouping two or more counties together. Since the Senate 
is much smaller than the House, the senate districts are 
larger than the house districts, or else the people of the 
district elect fewer senators than representatives. 
Senators and representatives are elected at the same 
time, in November, every two years ; and they serve for a 
term of two years. 

The General Assembly meets on the first Monday in 
January following the November elections — that is, once in 
every two years. In the past it has sometimes happened 
that the legislature, when it came together, would dally 
over the making of laws for a long period of time without 
accomplishing very much. This was a great expense to 
the people of the State, since our law-makers are paid four 
dollars a day during the period in which the General As- 
sembly is in session. In order to avoid this the Constitu- 

^he Constitution requires that representatives and senators must 
be apportioned among the districts in accordance with the number 
of voters in the district, and not in accordance with the total popu- 
lation. The number of voters is determined by the number who 
cast votes at the last presidential election. 



HO HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

tion prescribes that the members of the legislature shall 
not be paid for more than seventy-five days at any one 
session. The result is that the General Assembly usually 
closes its- session after sitting for seventy-five days. Extra 
sessions may, however, be called by the Governor whenever 
he believes such a session to be necessary, but the members 
cannot be paid for more than twenty days attendance upon 
an extra session. < 

81. How the General Assembly is organized for business. 
The Constitution gives each house of the General Assembly 
the power to choose its own officers, and to determine the 
rules by which its debates and other affairs must be con- 
ducted. The presiding officer of each house is called the 
Speaker, His position is one of great importance and in- 
fluence, for it is he who chooses the committes to ex- 
amine and report on laws that are proposed. In addi- 
tion to the presiding officer there are a number of other 
officers and clerks in each house. 

Each member has his own desk, and these desks are ar- 
ranged in rows facing the presiding officer's chair. Visi- 
tors are usually prohibited from coming upon the " floor M 
of either house. Galleries are provided, however, to which 
the public is freely admitted. 

82. How a measure becomes a law. Nearly every mem- 
ber who is elected to the General Assembly goes up to the 
Capitol with the idea of getting certain measures enacted 
into laws. Sometimes the people who elect him express 
their desire to have this or that law passed. Sometimes an 
individual citizen asks a member to present a proposition 
for a law. Frequently also the Governor and the other 
important officers, who are thoroughly in touch with the 
needs of the State, desire certain laws enacted. 

Formerly when the business of the government was less 



HOW THE LAWS ARE MADE III 

complicated than it is today, it was the usual custom for 
any member to propose a measure and have it discussed 
before the house. As time went on, however, and busi- 
ness increased, it became necessary to adopt some other 
method. It was found that the time of the law-makers was 
consumed in the discussion of many unimportant propo- 
sitions, while others of vital interest were delayed because 
of the general confusion and the lack of time. The system 
adopted to remedy this evil is known as the committee 
system,. Let us see what the committee system means. 

Each member of either house still has the right to intro- 
duce any measure that he sees fit. The measure when in- 
troduced, instead of being taken up at once for debate, is 
referred to an appropriate committee. Provision is made 
for a number of standing committees in each house, and 
each committee has for its consideration measures that 
relate to one particular department of the government's 
work. In the committee room the proposed measure is 
talked over and worked over. Later the committee makes 
a report to the house, recommending either that the meas- 
ure be passed or that it be voted down. 

When the committee reports a measure, it comes be- 
fore the house in the form of a bill. The house opens 
debate on the bill after it has been printed and read on three 
separate days. The bill may be changed by the house 
in any way, or it may be rejected. The house is largely 
influenced, however, by the report of the committee which 
has made a special investigation of the subject. In case 
the bill is passed in one house, it must then be sent to the 
other house where it may be approved or voted down. 

This is the manner in which every measure proceeds 
through the General Assembly. The committee system 
makes it possible to handle many propositions in the short 



112 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

term of seventy-five days. It also provides for a careful 
consideration of every proposal. 

83. What the General Assembly may and may not do. The 
General Assembly may pass any law which it is not for- 
bidden by the Constitution to pass, and which does not con- 
flict with the laws made by the national government at 
Washington. It is necessary for the Constitution to 
specify only those things which the General Assembly rpay 
not do. Chief among the restrictions placed upon the 
legislature are those which secure to the people certain 
privileges, such as the freedom of speech and religion, and 
the right not to have property taken from them by the gov- 
ernment without just compensation. (See Chapter IV.) 

Aside from these restrictions upon the powers of the 
legislature, the General Assembly may pass any act it 
pleases. It is not necessary for us to examine in detail 
what the nature of these laws is. It is sufficient to say that 
they provide in many ways for all those things which, as 
we have learned, the government undertakes in order to 
protect us in the enjoyment of our life, health, liberty, and 
property. The laws of the General Assembly regulate, 
among numerous other things, business relations, property 
relations, and the marriage relations of the people of the 
State, and provide for the raising of taxes, the educational 
interests, and the affairs of railways and other corpora- 
tions. 

84. Where the General Assembly meets. Long ago you 
learned in your study of geography that Nashville is the 
capital of the State of Tennessee. This means that the 
General Assembly and the principal offices of the State 
government are located at Nashville. On a hill sloping 
gradually in every direction, beautifully laid out with walks 
and flower beds, and containing the tomb of James K. 



HOW THE LAWS ARE MADE 1 13 

Polk, an equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, and a splen- 
did monument of Sam Davis, stands the Capitol building 
in which the General Assembly hold its sessions. (See 
frontispiece.) The entire cost of grounds and building was 
about $1,000,000. The building was first occupied by the 
General Assembly in 1853. Within its walls have been 
heard most of the distinguished men who have figured in 
the history of Tennessee since its erection. Because of its age 
and beauty, and because of the many historic associations 
that cluster about it, this Capitol has become very dear to 
the people of Tennessee. With the growth of the business 
of the government it became entirely too small for the 
needs of the State; and in 1907, a building opposite the 
Capitol, now known as the Capitol Annex, was purchased. 
In this Annex several of the large offices of the State gov- 
ernment find commodious quarters. 

85. Influences upon our law-makers. When a man has 
been chosen to the General Assembly as the representative 
of some community of the State, many people suppose that 
it is a very simple matter for him to determine what meas- 
ures will be for the best interests of the people, and for him 
always to vote honestly and intelligently. Perhaps it 
ought to be, but as a matter of fact a great many influences 
are brought to bear upon members of the General As- 
sembly of which most of us know very little. In the first 
place, a member usually desires to be re-elected at the end 
of his term of office. Sometimes the voters who have 
elected him are controlled by a man known as the political 
boss of the community. The member realizes that he must, 
to some extent at least, act so as to please this boss if he 
is to hope for re-election. 

Then again, when a measure is proposed that is disad- 
vantageous to some large corporation, or to the people 



114 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

engaged in a certain kind of business (as, for instance, the 
liquor business), all sorts of efforts are made to induce the 
law-makers to ignore the interests of the people. Shrewd 
lawyers and other crafty men are sent to Nashville to use 
their influence upon the law-makers, and to convince them, 
if possible, that the proposed measure is not for the inter- 
ests of the people. This is called lobbying. Many bad 
laws are made, and many good measures fail to be enacted 
by reason of the influence which these wicked lobbyists 
frequently use. You must not think, however, that all lob- 
bying is of this sort. Many good men also go before the 
committees of the General Assembly and lobby with its 
members to secure the passage of wise laws. 

Again, our law-makers are severely criticised by the 
newspapers, and sometimes this criticism is unjust. It is 
a very difficult matter for a man in public life to please 
everybody and to do only what is right. Our law-makers 
have no easy task. If some of them do not serve the peo- 
ple as they should, we ought to remember that we are 
partly responsible for this. It is the duty of the people in 
every community to choose as their representatives in the 
law-making body of the State the most intelligent and the 
most honorable men that can be induced to serve. And it 
is the duty of the member thus chosen to follow his sound 
judgment on every question before him. He should con- 
sider always only the best interests of the State, regardless 
of his personal ambitions, and in spite of the influences 
which seek at times to turn him aside. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

I. What is the law-making body of the State of Tennessee called ? 
Into what two bodies is it divided? Does your county constitute a 
house district by itself? If not, find out what other counties are 
grouped with it for the election of a representative. Find out how 



HOW THE LAWS ARE MADE 1 15 

many representatives your county or district has in the House of 
Representatives. Do you know the names of any present repre- 
sentatives? How many representatives are there at present? 

2. Find out what other counties, if any, are grouped with yours 
to form your senatorial district. Find out, if you can, the name 
of the present senator, or senators, from your district. How many 
senators are there at present? 

3. Who presides over the Senate? The House of Representatives? 
Have you ever been to the capitol building at Nashville? If so, 
describe the park. Describe the building. If you have seen the 
chambers in which the houses meet, describe them. Have you ever 
seen the houses in session? 

4. Suppose you desired to have a certain law passed, how would 
you go about it? Explain in full how such a measure would be- 
come a law after being introducd into one of the houses by some 
member. What is meant by the committee system? 

5. What is meant by a political boss? What is meant by lobby- 
ing? Explain how the bosses and lobbyists hinder and corrupt the 
law-makers. How can the people of any community prevent this? 

6. When does the next regular General Assembly meet? How 
long will it probably sit? Why? How may an extra session be 
called? Do you ever remember such a session? Why was it called? 
How long did it sit? 



CHAPTER XI 

HOW THE LAWS ARE PUT INTO OPERATION 

86. The chief executive officers. After the laws have 
been passed by the General Assembly, it is necessary that 
there should be officers to see that these laws are carried 
out. The enforcement of both State and local laws is in- 
trusted very largely to local officers chosen in the various 
communities of the State. Take, for example, the assess- 
ment and collection of the taxes imposed by the General 
Assembly; these matters are attended to by county and 
city officers. Again, it is the city police or the county con- 
stables who arrest offenders who violate the laws of the 
State that protect life and property. In the actual enforce- 
ment of the laws, the individual in any community usually 
comes in contact with county and city officers rather than 
with State officers. In addition to these local officers, 
however, there are certain officers at Nashville whose duty 
it is to see that the various acts of the General Assembly 
are properly executed. 

Chief among the State officers is the Governor. We 
look upon him as the head of the executive department of 
the government — that is, the department which puts the 
laws in operation. But the Governor is not the only exe- 
cutive officer of the State. Certain duties and powers are 
assigned to other officers. Among the most important of 
these are the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the 
State Treasurer, the State Comptroller, the State Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction, and numerous commissions 

116 



HOW THE LAWS ARE PUT INTO OPERATION 117 

and boards. Let us see how these various officers are 
chosen and what their duties and powers are. 

87. The Governor. As you have already learned, Ten- 
nessee was organized as a Territory in 1790, and was 
known as the " Territory of the United States South of the 
Ohio River." President Washington appointed William 
Blount as Governor of the Territory, and he in turn ap- 
pointed all the other Territorial and county officers. When 
in 1796 Tennessee was admitted to the Union as a State, 
the Constitution provided that the people should elect a 
Governor by popular vote. At present the Governor is 
chosen by the voters of the State at the same time in 
November when the members of the General Assembly 
are elected. He serves for a term of two years. 

Large powers are given to the Governor, and many 
important duties are laid upon him. He must be a man 
of great force and great ability. Not only this, but the 
Constitution requires that he shall be a citizen of the 
United States, that he shall be thirty years old, and that he 
shall have resided in Tennessee for seven years preceding 
his election. The position of Governor of Tennessee has 
always been one of great dignity and influence. He is 
spoken of as " His Excellency," while the President of the 
United States is addressed only as " Mr. President." 

88. Powers and duties of the Governor. The Governor's 
powers and duties are outlined in the Constitution of the 
State. From time to time also the legislature lays duties 
upon him in connection with the work of carrying out the 
laws. The Constitution says that he " shall take care that 
the laws be faithfully executed." This does not mean that 
he is to superintend every policeman or other minor officer 
whose duty it is to execute the laws. It means simply that 
he shall stand ready to use the forces at his command in 



Il8 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

order that the iaws shall be properly observed throughout 
the State. The Governor's powers and duties are various. 
Perhaps it may be well for us to classify them. 

1. The Governor's power over legislation. By reason ol 
his position at the head of the government, the Governor 
is usually more or less in touch with the needs of the State, 
and with matters which ought to be brought to the atten- 
tion of the General Assembly. He is required, therefore, 
to send a message to the legislature when it assembles. 
In this message he recommends certain measures which 
he thinks ought to be made laws. During the sessions 
of the General Assembly he usually keeps in constant 
communication with the law-makers and gives them his 
advice upon measures and bills that come up for con- 
sideration. He is empowered also, in case' he deems it 
necessary, to call at any time an extra session of the Gen- 
eral Assembly. Before any bill that has passed both 
houses of the legislature can become a law, it must be 
signed by the Governor. If he does not approve the bill, 
he may refuse to sign it — or, as this is generally called, 
he may veto it — and return it to the legislature with his 
objections to the measure. In case the Governor vetoes a 
bill, it cannot become a law unless it is reconsidered and 
again passed in both houses of the legislature by a majority 
vote. You see, therefore, that the Qovernor possesses a 
great deal of power and influence in the making of our laws. 

2. The Governor's power to supervise other officers. It is 
the duty of the Governor to keep himself informed as to 
how the other officers of the State are performing their 
duties. To this end he may require any information of them 
in writing. But the Governor has no power to remove any 
person from office, even though the officer fails to per- 
form his duty properly. 



HOW THE LAWS ARE PUT INTO OPERATION 119 

3. The Governor 's power over the militia. In the various 
communities of the State, volunteer militia companies are 
formed; and citizens residing in these communities, 
usually the young men, become members of these com- 
panies. Together these companies constitute the militia 
of the State. Ordinarily they have no active duties to per- 
form. Sometimes, however, when a riot breaks out, or a 
mob arises, or a strike becomes threatening, it is the duty 
of the Governor to call out the militia and send them in 
haste to the scene of the disorder. (See page 31.) By the 
Constitution the Governor is made commander-in-chief of 
the military force of the State. 

4. The Governor s pardoning power. Sometimes persons 
are convicted of crime against the laws of the State and are 
sentenced to punishment. For one reason or another it 
may be brought to the Governor's attention that a person 
so convicted ought not to be punished to the full extent of 
his sentence. The Governor has the power to pardon, to 
shorten the sentence, or to remit the fine of any one con- 
victed of violating the law. He does this only in ex- 
ceptional cases ; he does not allow those who ought to be 
punished to play upon his sympathies. But when once a 
case has been finally decided in the courts (see page 130), it 
is impossible for the courts to take it up again ; and it is 
very necessary and proper that some one should have the 
power to pardon. 

From what has been said you can see that the Governor 
has large powers and many important duties to perform. 
In case the Governor dies, or resigns, or is removed from 
office because he commits some crime, the Speaker of 
the Senate immediately succeeds to his place. And in case 
this officer for any similar reason is unable to serve, the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives acts in his place. 



120 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

89. The duties of the other executive officers. 1. The 

Secretary of State's duty is to assist the Governor in 
various ways and to keep a record of his acts. He is 
chosen by the General Assembly for a term of four years. 
Certain other duties are laid upon him by law, but it is 
unnecessary for our purposes to inquire into them. 2. The 
Attorney General is elected by the Judges of the Supreme 
Court (see page 129) for a term of eight years. He is the 
chief law-officer of the State. It is his duty to give his 
opinion to the Governor and other State officers on ques- 
tions of the law; and in case the State of Tennessee sues 
or is sued he represents the State before the courts. S. The 
State Treasurer is chosen by the General Assembly, but, 
like the Governor, he serves for a term of only two years. 
He has the power to pay out from the treasury of the State 
such money as he may be properly authorized to pay. 
4. The State Comptroller, who is also chosen by the Gen- 
eral Assembly for a term of two years, receives the money 
collected by the tax collectors in the various communities 
of the State and deposits it in the State treasury. He has 
many other important duties connected with the collection 
of State taxes and has charge of all claims made against 
the State. If the State owes money to any individual, it 
is the Comptroller who, in most cases, issues this person 
an order for the amount due him ; and it is the Treasurer 
who makes the payment upon this order. 5. The Commis- 
sioner of Agriculture and Immigration is appointed by the 
Governor for a period of two years. It is his duty to 
gather information in regard to the climate, soils, crops, and 
minerals of the State, and to give this information to farm- 
ers and others desiring it. He encourages and assists the 
farmer and cattle-raiser, and he endeavors to show to peo- 
ple outside the State the advantages of settling in Tennessee. 



HOW THE LAWS ARE PUT INTO OPERATION 121 

90. How the public school system is organized. The chief 
executive officer of the public school system in Tennessee 
is the Superintendent of Public Instruction. He is ap- 
pointed by the Governor for a term of two years. His 
duties are so numerous and varied that it would be impos- 
sible to describe them briefly. He exercises a general 
supervision over the entire public school system of the 
State and seeks in every way to encourage the improve- 
ment of schools and to awaken interest in public education. 
He exerts his influence with the legislature to secure ap- 
propriations for the schools and to have wise laws enacted 
in the interest of the public school system. 

The Superintendent is assisted by the State Board of 
Education. The Board consists of the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, who is its secretary, the Governor, who 
is its president, and of six other members who are ap- 
pointed by the Governor. The Board of Education has 
charge of the normal schools of the State, determines the 
distribution of funds given by the State for various educa- 
tional purposes, and conducts the examinations of persons 
who wish to become candidates for county superintendents 
in the several counties of the State. From this Board also 
the Governor selects the members of the State Text-Book 
Commission, this Commission having the power to select 
the text-books to be used in the public schools of the State. 

The State Superintendent and the State Board of Educa- 
tion are the principal State executive officers of the school 
system. In addition to these, there are in each community 
of the State local officers whose duty it is to supervise and 
provide for the schools. Let us see how the local school 
authorities are organized. 

In each county there is a county superintendent, who is 
elected by the county court (see page 137) for a term of 



122 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

two years. Before a person can be elected to this office, 
he must pass an examination and receive a certificate from 
the State Board of Education. The county superintendent 
has the power to supervise and regulate, according to the 
laws of the State and the instructions of the State Superin- 
tendent, all the public schools in his county. Under the 
law, women as well as men are eligible to this office, and 
at present some of our best superintendents are women. 

Most of the counties of Tennessee now have a county 
hoard of education consisting of the county superintendent, 
who is its secretary, and five other members. Usually the 
county is divided into five school districts, and one mem- 
ber of the county board is chosen from each of these 
districts. These members were at first appointed by the 
county court (see page 137) ; but they are now elected by 
the voting people of each school district and serve for a 
term of two years. The county board of education elects 
teachers for all the schools of the county, erects school 
buildings, and otherwise conducts the business affairs of 
the school. Several counties, by special laws of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, are permitted to have three directors for each 
civil district of the county instead of a county board of 
education. In a number of counties there is also a county 
high school board; having general direction of the high 
schools in the county. 

As we shall learn later in our study, every county in 
Tennessee is divided into a number of civil districts. 1 Once 
in two years the people of each civil district elect three 
members of what is known as an advisory board. It is the 
duty of this advisory board to visit the schools in the dis- 
trict and to make recommendations to the county board 
for changes and improvements in the schools. 

1 A school district may consist of one or a group of civil dis- 
tricts. 



HOW THE LAWS ARE PUT INTO OPERATION 123 

The cities of Tennessee are allowed to establish special 
school systems, and to have a city school board either 
elected by the people or chosen by the city council. (See 
page 144.) This board elects the city superintendent and 
controls the schools of the city. You see, therefore, that 
Tennessee has provided a very elaborate system of officers 
for the regulation of matters relating to the public schools. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. If the General Assembly lays a tax upon certain property 
throughout the State, what officers in your community would put 
this law into execution? If a man commits a crime in your com- 
munity, is he arrested by a local or a State officer? Has he vio- 
lated a local or a State law? 

2. Who is the present Governor of Tennessee? How and when 
was he chosen? How much longer has he to serve? Do you 
know anything about his life? What qualifications as to age, citizen- 
ship, and residence must be posse- 

3. What is meant by the Governor's message? Why does the 
law require him to send a message? What is meant by his veto? 
How may it be overcome? 

4. What control does the Governor have over the other execu- 
tive officers? Can he remove them from office? What is his posi- 
tion in the militia? What is meant by his pardoning power? If 
he should die in office, who would succeed him? 

5. Mention some of the other executive officers at Nashville. 
Tell how each of them .is chosen and what you know of their 
respective duties. 

6. Describe Row the public school system of the State is organized- 
Who is the present Superintendent of Public Instruction? When 
and how was he chosen? 

7. Who is the Superintendent of Schools in your county or city? 
How is he chosen? What are his duties? What is the county 
or city school board? Do you know any of its members in your 
community? Who appoints teachers in your community? 



CHAPTER XII 

HOW THE LAWS ARE EXPLAINED AND 
APPLIED 

91. The necessity for courts of law. We have already 
seen how the laws in Tennessee are framed and passed by 
the General Assembly. We have seen, too, that there is a 
group of officers, with the Governor at their head, whose 
duty it is to put these laws into execution. These legis- 
lative and executive departments of the government, how- 
ever, are not sufficient completely to carry out the plan of 
the government. 

You can easily understand how people will sometimes 
differ in opinion as to what the law really means, and how 
laws may sometimes conflict with one another. Moreover, 
it is often very difficult to find out the truth about a matter 
to which the law is supposed to apply. For instance, a 
dispute may arise as to which of two parties owns a piece 
of property ; each party may claim that he has the right to 
it under the law. Similar disputes might arise over a debt 
or over an agreement or contract between two parties. 
These disputes may be very complicated, involving many 
points to be considered. 

Suppose a man is accused of some offense against the 
laws of the State, as for instance, robbery or murder. 
Whatever punishment is to be inflicted upon him will de- 
pend on two things. First, it will depend on the facts of 
the case, involving the question of whether he really com- 
mitted the crime, and if so, whether it was partially or 

124 



HOW THE LAWS ARE APPLIED 125 

wholly justifiable. Second, it will depend on what par- 
ticular law in regard to punishment will apply to the cir- 
cumstances under which the crime was committed. 

Now it must be very clear to you that every time an 
attempt is made to apply the law to a particular case, many 
questions must arise in regard to the facts of the case and 
the meaning of the law which is applied to these facts. 
There must, therefore, be a judicial department of the gov- 
ernment, whose duty it is to explain the laws and apply 
them in particular instances. This part of the govern- 
ment's work is accomplished by means of the courts. 

92. How the courts protect us. It is in the courts that 
we find our strongest protection against injustice. If any 
man in a community feels that an injury has been done 
him by another member of the community contrary to 
the law, he applies to the courts to determine the matter. 
If he feels that the officers of the government are over- 
stepping their authority and are trampling upon his rights 
and liberties, he goes to the courts with his grievance. If 
a bad member of the community commits a crime, it is the 
courts that examine into the facts and circumstances of the 
case and determine what his punishment shall be in accord- 
ance with the law. Few people pass through life without 
on some occasion finding it necessary to seek the assist- 
ance or the protection of the courts. 

93. The system of courts in Tennessee. As we have just 
seen, the courts of law are the real protectors of our rights 
and liberties. Because of this, it is a fundamental principle 
of justice among the English-speaking* people that there 
must be in every community at least one court for the set- 
tlement of these perplexing questions of fact and law. 
That is to say, every man must have this protection within 
his reach. . 



126 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

The system of courts in Tennessee by which this is ac- 
complished in somewhat complicated. There are a number 
of different kinds of courts, each with certain limits to the 
powers that it may exercise. It is unnecessary for us to 
examine in detail the powers, or jurisdiction, as it is 
usually called, of these various courts. It will be sufficient 
for us to get a general idea of the judicial system of the 
State. There are in the main four classes of courts : 

1. The justices' or police courts. In every county in the 
State of Tennessee there are a number of justices of the 
peace, whose duty it is to hold courts for the trial of petty 
offenses against the laws of the State and the county. In 
the cities likewise, there is a similar court usually known 
as the police court. These justices' courts constitute the 
most numerous branch of courts in the State. It must be 
remembered, however, that they have authority to try only 
such petty offenses as are punishable by small fines or 
short terms of imprisonment in jail. They can also deter- 
mine disputes in regard to property and debts where only 
small amounts are involved. In most instances, even after 
a case has been decided in these lowest courts of the State, 
the law provides that it may be carried to the next higher 
court, and there be reviewed. 

2. The circuit courts. Next above the justices' courts 
are a number of courts known as circuit courts. For this 
purpose the whole State is divided into judicial circuits. 
Each circuit consists either of one large county or a group 
of counties. The court of any circuit is held as the occa- 
sion may demand, in this or that. county or city of the cir- 
cuit; and from the fact that it moves from place to place 
it takes its name, the "circuit" court. It is this court 
which has the authority to hear by far the larger number 
of important cases that arise. In most of the counties of 




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o 



p 

o 
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u 

in 



128 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

the State, persons charged with criminal offenses against 
the laws are tried in the circuit court ; but in the larger 
counties, there is a special criminal court for the purpose 
of trying these offenses. 

3. The chancery courts. A court known as the chancery 
court is held once or twice a year in each county of the 
State. For this purpose the State is divided into a number 
of chancery divisions,, each division consisting of a single 
populous county or a group of counties. A chancery court 
is presided over by an officer called a chancellor. It is im- 
possible to explain to you clearly the kind of cases which 
may come before these chancery courts. To understand 
this would require some knowledge of the study of law. 

J+. The Supreme Court of Tennessee. At the top of the 
judicial system of Tennessee stands a court known as the 
Supreme Court of the State. This court has the power 
to hear cases which have already been tried in the circuit 
and chancery courts and which have been brought on to 
the Supreme Court to be heard again. When the Su- 
preme Court has given its opinion in any case, that case 
is usually settled finally. It cannot be tried again unless 
the Supreme Court so orders. 

So many cases were brought up, or appealed, as it is 
called, from the other courts of the State that the Supreme 
Court found it impossible to handle all of the work 
promptly. Some years ago, therefore, the General Assem- 
bly created a court known as the Court of Civil Appeals. 
This Civil Court hears a large number of cases which for- 
merely went directly to the Supreme Court. Certain cases 
are decided finally by this court. In cases of another kind 
the Court of Civil Appeals, after hearing a case, makes a 
report on it to the Supreme Court, thus relieving the 
Supreme Court of some of its heavy burden. 



HOW THE LAWS ARE APPLIED 129 

94. The judges and other officers of the courts. Now the 
question arises : who presides over all of these various 
courts in the State and how are these judicial officers 
chosen? As we have just learned, the justices' courts are 
presided over by justices of the peace, and the chancery 
courts by officers called chancellors. The presiding offi- 
cers of the circuit courts and the officers of the Supreme 
Court are called judges. 

Every one of these judicial officers is elected by the 
people whom he serves. As we have already noted, every 
county of the State is divided in a number of districts 
known as civil districts. (See page 122.) The people of 
each civil district elect two justices of the peace, who hold 
office for a term of six years. One circuit judge is elected 
by the people of each judicial circuit for a term of eight 
years. The people of each chancery division of the State 
likewise elect one chancellor, who holds office for eight 
years. The Supreme Court consists of five judges who 
are elected by the people of the entire State, and who hold 
office likewise for a period of eight years. The Court of 
Civil Appeals is similar in all respects to the Supreme Court, 
consisting of five judges elected by the people of the State 
for a term of eight years. 

The Constitution provides that the salaries of judges of 
the courts shall not be increased or diminished during 
their term of office. This is in order to prevent the General 
Assembly from gaining any control over the honesty and 
impartiality of the judges of the courts, by refusing to con- 
tinue or ofifering to increase their salaries. 

You may be surprised to learn that the judges of all our impor- 
tant courts hold office for eight years while the Governor and 
other officers of the State serve for only two or four years. There 
is a very vital reason for this. One of the principles which lie at 



I 3 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

the bottom of our judicial system is that every man, no matter 
how poor and obscure, shall be equal to any other man when he 
appears before the courts. If our judges were subjected to the 
control of political parties by reason of frequent elections, their 
decisions might sometimes be influenced by their desire for re- 
appointment. The object, therefore, of choosing the judges for 
long terms is that they may be largely separated from any control 
of politics, and that they may feel free to interpret the law with 
absolute impartiality. 

95. How the law proceeds. You may perhaps wonder 
how one individual proceeds when he feels that it is neces- 
sary for him to call on the courts for assistance in main- 
taining his rights against some other individual. If he 
ascertains that the law is probably in favor of his claim, he 
usually places the matter in the hands of a lawyer, who 
brings it before the proper court at the proper time, and 
in accordance with the regulations prescribed for such pro- 
ceedings. The other party concerned generally employs a 
lawyer to represent him ; and the matter is fought out be- 
tween these lawyers in the presence of the court. The 
facts are all heard, the law is interpreted and applied, and 
a decision is rendered. Such a case as this is called a 
civil suit. You must understand that in such a suit no 
person is on trial. 

In case an individual is arrested and accused of some 
crime, he usually employs, or else the government gives 
him, a lawyer to represent his cause before the court. 
Opposed to this lawyer is an officer known as the attorney 
general, or often simply as the district attorney, who is 
himself a lawyer representing the community. One district 
zttorney is elected by the people in each judicial circuit, 
and, like the judges, he holds office for a term of eight 
years. It is the duty of the district attorney for the State 
to bring out before the court all the fact that will help to 



HOW THE LAWS ARE APPLIED 131 

show the guilt of the prisoner. You see, therefore, 
that we again have two lawyers struggling with 
each other in the presence of the court on opposite sides 
of the question to be decided. Such a case as this, in 
which a person is being tried for a crime of which he is 
accused, is called a criminal case. In any criminal case 
the government itself, represented by the district attorney 
for the State, is one of the parties concerned. A man who 
has committed a crime has really committed an injury 
against the whole people of the community, and the gov- 
ernment must punish him if his guilt can be proved. 

96. Trial by jury. You remember that in the beginning 
of our study we discussed the various operations of the 
government which aim to protect the individual in his life 
and liberty. (See Chapter IV.) And we mentioned the 
fact that when any member of a community is accused of 
crime, the government must grant him certain rights in 
regard to his trial. Among these we spoke of his right to 
a trial by jury. What does this mean? It means simply 
that the individual who is called upon to defend his rights 
or himself in court has in all important cases the right to 
have a decision on the facts of his case rendered by a 
group of men chosen from among his fellow-citizens. 
This group usually consists of twelve men and is known 
as a jury. Trial by jury arose out of the notion that a 
man's fellow-citizens would be more apt to give him justice 
than would an officer of the government. Hence while it 
is the judge of the court who explains and interprets the 
law for the jury, it is the jury that decides upon the facts 
of the case and renders the verdict. 

The right of trial by jury is one of our most sacred 
rights. We should cherish it and uphold it in every way 
possible. It is true that jury service is sometimes incon- 



132 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

venient; it may seriously interfere with a man's business. 
For this reason, many men seek to evade the law which re- 
quires them to serve on juries when they are called upon. 
These very men may some day find themselves at the 
mercy of a jury; they would then be eager for competent 
and intelligent jurors. We should look upon jury service 
as a duty that we owe to our community and to our fel- 
lowmen. We should not let it be said that in our commu- 
nity juries are frequently composed of men of no employ- 
ment and of little ability. 

97. The grand jury. In many important cases the law 
provides that before a person can be tried for an offense 
which he is supposed to have committed, he shall be 
indicted by a grand jury. This means that the evidence of 
his guilt shall be presented to a body consisting regularly 
of twelve men chosen in the community. If this grand 
jory finds the evidence sufficient, the accused person is for- 
mally charged with the crime, or indicted as it is called, 
and is held for trial. If the evidence is found to be insuffi- 
cient, he is dismissed. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. Suppose a dispute arises between two persons over a debt, how 
is it usually settled? Suppose a man is arrested for stealing, who 
determines his punishment? Why are the courts necessary? How 
do they protect us from injustice? 

2. Have you ever been in a court room? If so, describe it. Do 
you know the names of any justice of the peace in your neighbor- 
hood (or police justice)? Where is his court held? If a man is 
arrested for fighting in your community, before what court would 
he be taken? 

3. Find out, if you can, when and where the circuit court sits in 
your county. The chancery court. Who is your present circuit 
judge? Your chancellor? 



HOW THE LAWS ARE APPLIED 133 

4. Describe the system of courts in Tennessee- How are the 
judges or presiding officers of the various courts chosen? For what 
term? Why may not the General Assembly increase or diminish 
a judge's salary during his term of office? Why do judges hold 
office for longer terms than the Governor and other officers of the 
State? 

5. What is the highest court in Tennessee? How many judges 
sit in it? How are they chosen and for what term? Find out the 
names of the present judges of the Supreme Court. Why was the 
Civil Court of Appeals established? How many judges sit in it? 
For what term and how are they chosen? 

6. Explain how in every case, whether civil or criminal, there are 
lawyers on each side of the question. What is the duty of the 
district attorney for the State? Find out, if you can, who is the 
district attorney in your judicial circuit. How and for what term 
was he chosen ? 

7. Explain what is meant by the jury trial. Why is it a duty to 
serve on juries? 3 How are we protected by the right of trial by 
jury? 

8. What is meant by an indictment? Who brings the indictment? 
Did you ever hear of an indictment being broughl against some 
individual? Of what offense was he accused? Find out, if you 
can, how often a grand jury sits in your county. 



CHAPTER XIII 

HOW THE COUNTIES ARE GOVERNED 

98. What the county is. Many of us cannot remember 
the first time that we ever heard of counties. In our 
geographies we learned that Tennessee is divided into 
ninety-six counties each with its own name, and every one 
of us lives in some one of these counties. What do we mean, 
then, when we speak of a county? As we have seen, cer- 
tain matters of interest to the people can best be attended 
to by the different local communities. And although 
counties did not originate for local purposes, this is the 
reason why they exist today. You will recall that one of 
the reasons why the people of Tennessee desired a change 
in the Constitution of 1796 was because that Constitution 
did not permit the people of the counties to choose their 
own officers and to regulate their own local affairs. 

County government dates back to a very early period 
in the history of England — in fact to a period when there 
was no king at all over the whole of England. When 
the settlers came over to America and established the 
colonies of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, they 
simply transplanted to these colonies the county form of 
local government to which they had been accustomed in 
England. When the Territory South of the Ohio River 
was formed (see page 97), county government was ex- 
tended to the soil of Tennessee, for those who settled this 
region came largely from North Carolina and the older 
Southern States. With some changes in its form, the 

134 



HOW THE COUNTIES ARE GOVERNED 135 

county still exists among us for the purposes of local gov- 
ernment. Before we take up the study of our present 
county government, let us see why it was that the settlers 
adopted this kind of government 

99. How the geography of Tennessee affected our gov- 
ernment. You will doubtless recall that most of the set- 
tlers who came to Tennessee in the early days of its history 
were attracted by the profits they hoped to make out of 
the soil. Many of them obtained large grants of land 
from the government. When they reached the territory, 
they found that it contained a number of fertile river val- 
leys. The result was that these landowners, or planters, 
as they were called, usually established their plantations 
upon large tracts of land bordering on some stream. There 
they raised crops on a large scale. You see, therefore, 
that from the very beginning Tennessee, like the rest of 
the South, was split up into large plantations. In conse- 
quence, the people lived far apart from one another. Xow 
this fact had an important influence upon the kind of 
local government that developed in the South. You will 
perhaps understand this better if we turn for a moment to 
see what kind of government developed among the New 
England settlers. 

The people who settled New England came over to this 
country largely that they might enjoy religious freedom. 
They came, therefore, in congregations or groups rather 
than as individual adventurers. The climate and the geo- 
graphy of New England, unlike Tennessee, did not permit 
them to separate and settle on large estates. They built 
their homes close around the church and schoolhouse. 
Under such circumstances it was natural for them to adopt 
a popular or democratic form of government. All the in- 
habitants of each community met together and decided 



136 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

what their laws should be, and who should be their officers. 
This form of local government still prevails in New Eng- 
land, and in a somewhat different form it has been adopted 
in the West. It is known as township government,, and the 
assembly of the people is called the town meeting. 

Now it must be very evident to you that, with the peo- 
ple scattered widely apart as they were in Tennessee and 




Gibson County Court House, at Trenton, Tennessee 

the rest of the Southern States, it would have been impos- 
sible for such a form of government to have arisen. How 
could the people of a large county come together for the 
purpose of making laws ? Instead of the township govern- 
ment, the county form of government was adopted in Ten- 
nessee, at it was adopted throughout the South. A county 
covered a large area, including many plantations; and the 



HOW THE COUNTIES ARE GOVERNED 137 

people, instead of voting directly, chose representatives to 
determine all matters of local interest. Let us see how 
the county is at present organized for the purposes of local 
government. 

100. What powers the county may exercise. It is impor- 
tant for you to bear in mind that the county may do only 
those things which the Constitution and the legislature of 
the State permit. Ordinarily the county attends to such 
matters as the building of roads and bridges, the assess- 
ment and collection of taxes, the care of the poor, the pre- 
servation of the peace by arresting those who violate the 
laws, the quarantining of contagious diseases, and the build- 
ing of schoolhouses, the court-house, and other county 
buildings. These are not all of the duties which fall to the 
county governments, but they are among the most impor- 
tant. Nor are all these things attended to wholly by the 
counties. For instance, the State government both assists 
and controls the counties materially in educational matters. 

101. The county court. As we have already noted (see 
page 129), each county in the State is divided into a 
number of districts known as civil district*. Once every 
six years, in August, the voting people of each district 
elect two justices of the peace for the district. The jus- 
tices of the peace in all the civil districts of the county to- 
gether constitute what is known as the county court. The 
presiding officer of the county court is called the county 
judge, although in many counties he is know * simply as 
the chairman of the county court. A county judge is 
elected by the voting people of the county for a term of 
eight years ; hut a chairman is chosen by the members of the 
county court from among their own number. 

The county court is really not a court at all, although it 
is called a court and its presiding officer is usually called a 



138 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

judge. It does not, however, as in the case of the other 
courts we have learned about, try cases arising under the 
law. It is in reality the law-making body for the county. 
The General Assembly gives to this court the power to 
make such rules and regulations as may be necessary for 
the county. It provides for the building and repairing of 
the roads and bridges, levies taxes for county purposes, 
borrows money, and builds the court-house, the jail, and 
the poorhouse. Indeed this court has general control and 
direction of the affairs of the county. 

102. Other county officers. In addition to the members 
of the county court there are a number of other officers 
elected by the people of each county or appointed by the 
county court. Let us see what other officers are provided 
for the county. 

1. The trustee of the county is elected by the people for 
a term of two years. As his name implies, he is the offi- 
cer who receives all money due the county, and who pays 
out such amounts of it as he may be empowered by law to 
pay. All taxes are collected by him and any fees collected 
by other officers of the county are turned over to him. 
2. The Sheriff of the county is the officer who has charge 
of the county court-house and jail, and whose duty it is 
to assist in preserving the peace by arresting criminals. 
He attends the courts which meet in his county, and car- 
ries out their orders. He is the most important executive 
officer of the county, having many other duties laid upon 
him by the law. Although the sheriff is elected by the 
people of the county for a term of two years, he is in 
reality an officer of the State government, for it is his duty 
to execute the laws of the State within the county. 3. The 
county attorney is the law officer of the county. It is his 
duty to give his advice on questions of the law to the mem- 



HOW THE COUNTIES ARE GOVERNED 139 

bers of the county court and other officers of the county. 
In prosecuting criminals who are brought before the cir- 
cuit court when it meets in his county, he assists the dis- 
trict attorney fur the State, an officer who is elected by the 
people of each judicial circuit fur a term of eight years. 
It the county sues «>r is sued in the courts, it is represented 
by the county attorney. The county attorney is elected 
by the county court every two years. ' f . / cleric of the 
circuit court is the officer whose duty it is to keep the 
records of the circuit court when it meets in his county. 
Although one circuit court usually meets from time to time 
in the several counties included in the circuit, yet each 
county has its own clerk for this court, who keeps the 
records of the court only in that county. He is elected 
by the people for a term of four years. 5. The justi 
of tJte is we have learned are the officers who hold 

the lowest courts in the State, and who together constitute 
the county court. As their name indicates, it is their duty 
to assist in preserving the peace. Although only two jus- 
tices are elected in each civil district, an additional number 
of them are provided for cities and towns. 6. The con- 
rtable's chief duty is to arrest persons accused of violating 
the laws and otherwise to assist in preserving order. He 
carries out the orders of the justices' courts. One con- 
stable is elected in each civil district for a term of two 
years. ?. The county tax iss ss r is the officer whose duty 
it is to make out the lists of property for taxation. 8. The 
clerk of the county court keeps the records of the county 
court, issues all licenses and collects all license taxes. 
(See page 90.^ He is elected by the people for a term of 
four years. The people of each county elect also a 
for a term of four years : and the county court appoints 
also a superintendent of education, a coroner, a surveyor, 



I 4 o HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

and a rangei*, all of whom hold office for two years each. 
It is not necessary for us to examine in detail the various 
ways in which these officers assist in carrying out the 
scheme of county government. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

To the Teacher. The teacher of rural schools should, if possi- 
ble, elaborate the outline of county government contained in this 
chapter, seeking especially to localize the pupil's interest in the 
government of his own county. The following meager questions 
will naturally arouse more interest and discussion among county 
pupils than among city pupils. The exact opposite may be said of 
the following chapter. 

i. In what county do you live? Describe its situation in the 
State. Try to find out something about its history: when was it 
settled, when did it become a county, how did it receive its name? 

2. Explain how geographical conditions in Tennessee gave rise 
to the county form of local government. What is meant by town- 
ship government? Where did it flourish and why? Why did it 
not develop in Tennessee and the rest of the South? 

3. What are some of the powers which your county government 
exercises? How is the county court formed? What are its powers? 
Find out who are your district justices of the peace at present. 
When were they elected? How long have they yet to serve? What 
are their duties? 

4. Find out, if you can, who is the present trustee of your county. 
The county judge or chairman? The sheriff? The clerk of the 
circuit court? The county tax assessor? The superintendent of 
education? The coroner? The suveyor? The ranger? The con- 
stable of your district? How and when were these various officers 
chosen? For what term does each of them serve? What are the 
duties of each? 

5. What great men has your community produced? Which of 
them were of local, which of State, which of national reputation? 
What do you know of their lives? Are their names commemorated 
in any way in your community? Can you think of some simple 
ways by which they might be commemorated? 

6. What important incidents of history have taken place in your 
community? Are these incidents commemorated? How? 



CHAPTER XIV 

HOW THE CITIES ARE GOVERNED 

103. The growth of cities in Tennessee. Sometimes you 
have perhaps wondered why no very large city has de- 
veloped in Tennessee. In other parts of the United States 
cities have in some cases grown enormously in popula- 
tion in a comparatively short time. In 1830, Chicago 
was almost a wilderness, while Memphis was little more 
than a village. Today, the population of Chicago is more 
than two millions, while that of Memphis is only in 
the neighborhood of one hundred and fifty thousand. 
How can we account for this slow development of cities 
in Tennessee and the rest of the South? 

YVe have already noted the fact that Tennessee was set- 
tled in plantations and that society was divided into three 
classes with the slaves at the bottom. Under the direc- 
tion of the white population these slaves made good farm 
laborers. They were not trained, however, for labor of a 
higher character; and while sla\ery existed, no large 
number of them could have been taught to run the com- 
plicated machinery used in manufacturing. As you know, 
people in cities do not expect to earn their living by 
farming. They support themselves by manufacturing and 
trading. It was impossible for the people of Tennessee 
to establish large cities, for the slaves could not profitably 
be employed in manufacturing industries. You can see, 
therefore, how it was that slavery prevented the develop- 
ment of manufactures in the South and the consequent 

141 



142 



HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 



growth of cities. Since the emancipation of the slaves, 
cities in Tennessee, as well as in the rest of the South, 
have begun to grow more rapidly than formerly. But the 
whole South has been retarded in this development by 
reason of the terrible destruction that resulted from the 
War between the States. Moreover, it takes time to 
change a considerable portion of the population from 
agricultural to manufacturing pursuits. 

In recent years cities have been developing very rapidly 
in Tennessee. The poulations of Memphis and Nash- 
ville have more than doubled since 1880. 

104. City problems. In the earlier part of our study 
we noticed that our city governments undertake many 
things for the people of city communities that are un- 
necessary in rural communities. It is hardly needful to 
explain why this should be the case. Where so many 
people live close to one another, they are forced to use 
the same streets, the same trolley cars, the same facilities 
for lighting their houses and getting water, as well as 
many other things in common. The government must 
provide for the maintenance of these things for the com- 
mon welfare of all. 

As a result of these conditions, it has been found neces- 
sary to provide for every city in Tennessee a city govern- 
ment in addition to that of the county in which it is lo- 
cated. City governments must be so organized that the 
cities can provide in many ways for the health, the wel- 
fare, and the happiness of their inhabitants. Streets must 
be laid out, paved, and kept clean. Trees must be set out. 
Parks must be provided, in order that the city may be 
beautified, and its inhabitants may have convenient places 
for recreation. The police force must be maintained for 
the protection of life and property and for the enforcement 



HOW THE CITIES ARE GOVERNED 



143 



of the laws. The streets must be lighted, water must be 
provided, fire departments maintained, a system of sewer- 
age installed; schoolhonses, fire houses, city halls, mar- 
kets, hospitals, police stations, and jails must be built. 









f 






HI 


; J^JffiyiL 






Brazils 


■m 




A m^. -Jlr^ 


^ 




ppr^' 





City Hall, Nashville, Tennessee 

These and many other things the city must undertake. 
And as you may imagine, all these undertakings call for a 
complicated system of government and many officers. 
Let us see in a general way how the cities of Tennessee 
are governed. 

105. What is meant by the city charter. The General 
Assembly has been accustomed to grant to every city 



I 4 4 H0W WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

a special charter. Each of these charters is a document 
declaring what powers the city may exercise, and providing 
in detail how the city government shall be organized, how 
the city laws shall be made, the names and duties of the 
city officers and how they shall be chosen. Under these 
charters the form of government in one city is in many 
respects quite different from that in another city, for the 
charters granted by the legislature are not always identical. 

106. The kinds of city government in Tennessee. At present 
there are two main types of city government in Tennessee. 
Most of the charters which were formerly granted to cities 
were modelled after a form of city government called the 
mayor and council plan. The larger cities of the State, how- 
ever, such as Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knox- 
ville, have more recently been allowed by the legislature 
to have what is known as the commission form of city gov- 
ernment. In 19 1 3 the legislature passed a general law 
which permitted any city in the State to adopt this form 
of government if it so desired. Let us now see what are 
the characteristics of these two types of city government. 

107. Cities under the mayor and council form of govern- 
ment. At the present time this form of government is 
found in most of the smaller cities of Tennessee. It is a 
form of government patterned somewhat after the State 
government. The mayor, for example, who is elected by 
the voters of the city for a term of two years, corresponds 
to the Governor of the State. The city council, which 
makes the local laws of the city (called ordinances) , corre- 
sponds to the State legislature, although it consists of only 
one house instead of two. The members of the council, 
called aldermen, are elected by the voters of the several 
•wards into which the city is divided. The mayor is the 



HOW THE CITIES 'ARE GOVERNED 145 

chief executive officer of the city and also has the power 
to veto any ordinance passed by the council. The other 
executive officers of the city are usually chosen by the city 
council. These officers are a city clerk, a city treasurer, 
a city attorney, and such other officers as the city charter 
may provide for, or the council may deem necessary. The 
council also elects a chief of police, and a chief of the fire 
department. Most cities, moreover, have a health officer 
and a board of education as a part of their government. 
It is sufficient for us to know that each of these officers 
and boards fills a very necessary place in the city gov- 
ernment. 

This form of government by a mayor and council has 
prevailed for many years not only in the cities of Tennessee 
but also in most of the cities throughout the United States. 
It has not proved very satisfactory, largely because it is so 
complicated. Under it the powers of the city are placed 
in the hands of so many different officers that nobody seems 
directly responsible for the proper management of the 
affairs of the city. As a result of this fact, the mayor 
and council form of city government has in recent years 
been abandoned in many cities throughout the country, and 
in its place the commission form of government has been 
established. 

108. Cities under the commission form of government. 
We have seen that in 1913 the legislature enacted a law per- 
mitting any city in the State to adopt this form of govern- 
ment. The commission form of city government is simply 
that form in which the entire power of the city is vested 
in a small board, or "commission" as it is called, the mem- 
bers of which are elected by the voters of the city. In 
cities which have a population of 10,000 or more the law 
provides that there shall be five commissioners, while in 



i 4 6 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

the smaller cities there are only three. This commis- 
sion enacts the ordinances of the city, determines what 
taxes shall be levied, and what amount of money shall be 
spent in carrying on the various operations of the city gov- 
ernment. The commission also appoints all the other im- 
portant and unimportant officers of the city, and may dis- 
miss any officer thus appointed after giving him a hearing. 
When a city has five commissioners the entire work of 
the city is divided into five large departments: (i) the 
Department of Public Affairs; (2) the Department of 
Revenue and Finance; (3) the Department of Public 
Safety; (4) the Department of Streets and Improvements; 
(5) the Department of Parks and Public Property. In the 
smaller cities where there are but three commissioners 
these are consolidated into three departments. In order 
that the various activities of the city may be carefully di- 
rected each member of the commission is put in charge of 
one of these departments. You see, therefore, that com- 
plete responsibility for the proper conduct of the city gov- 
ernment is placed upon this commission. 

We have seen that the cities of Memphis, Nashville, 
Knoxville, and Chattanooga also have commission govern- 
ment, although it was granted to each of them separately 
and not by a general law. These cities are all governed 
substantially alike, but there are some minor differences 
which appear. Perhaps the most interesting of these dif- 
ferences is the so-called "recall" system which is found 
in the charters of Chattanooga and Knoxville. This is a 
method by which the people may get rid of a commissioner 
during his term of office if they are not satisfied with him. 
A large number of citizens must sign a petition for his 
recall. At a special election which must then be held, the 
voters have the opportunity to decide whether they will 



HOW THE CITIES ARE GOVERNED 147 

retain the commissioner or elect some other candidate to 
his office. 

It is probable that the commission form of government 
will spread rapidly among the smaller cities of Tennessee 

109. The government of towns. In Tennessee there is 
no distinction made between cities and towns except that 
towns usually have smaller populations than cities. The 
charters granted to towns by the General Assembly ordi- 
narily provide for a much simpler form of government 
than that of the larger cities of the State. The organiza- 
tion of the town government, however, is usually deter- 
mined largely by the citizens of the town. These citizens 
prepare a charter and present it to the legislature with 
the request that it be adopted as the town charter. 

You must bear in mind that every city and town in 
Tennessee is a part of some county. It is therefore subject 
to the government of the county in which it is located. It 
is only because of the fact that the cities and the town- 
have to provide for many things in addition to those things 
undertaken by the county that they are permitted to main- 
tain local governments of their own. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

To the Teacher. Owing to the fact that most of the cities and 
towns in Tennessee are governed under special charters, the brief 
outline of city government contained in this chapter may not be 
exactly the form of government in any particular city or town. 
If you are a teacher of a city or town school, by all means secure 
a copy of your city or town charter and instruct your pupils in 
great detail in regard to the form of government in their own 
city or town. If you can secure a copy of the code of municipal 
ordinances and any reports of the officers of the city government, 
you will find these also of inestimable help in your classroom work. 

1. Try to find out the population of your city, or of the nearest 
city to you. Is its population said to be increasing? Can you see 



148 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

any evidence of the increase, such as the building of new resi- 
dences or business houses? What natural advantages has your 
city? What attracts people to it? 

2. Mention some of the things that city governments provide in 
addition to the things undertaken by the county governments. Why 
does this difference exist? Explain then why the city government 
differs in form from that of the county. 

3. Explain what is meant by the city charter. Who grants the 
charter? Who may change it? Find out, if you can, when your 
city charter was granted. When it was last changed. How does 
it happen that all the cities of Tennessee are not governed exactly 
alike ? 

4. What is the law-making body of your city called? Of whom 
is it composed? Find out exactly how your own city council or 
commission is organized. How does a resolution introduced into 
the city council become a city ordinance? 

5. What two kinds of city government are there in Tennessee? 
Describe each kind. Which do you think is the better? Why? 
What is meant by the "recall"? 

6. What are some of the important duties of the city council? 
Find out, if you can, what taxes are levied by the city council. 
Have you ever heard of a franchise to use the streets being granted 
to a street-car, telephone, water, lighting, or other company? Who 
granted the- franchise? Find out, if yoa can, what kind of service 
the city requires of the company. Find out, if you can, what the 
company pays the city for this use of the streets. Are the people 
of your city satisfied with the service, and do they think that the 
city is paid properly for this grant to use the streets? 

7. Does your city have a mayor? How and for what term is 
he chosen? What are some of his duties? Find out who are the 
important officers of your city, and how and for what term each 
is chosen. What are the duties of each? Is there a board of 
public works in your city, and if so, what are its duties? 

8. Find out who appoints firemen, policemen, street-cleaners, in 
your city or town. 



CHAPTER XV 

WHO TAKES PART IN THE GOVERNMENT 

110. Why the people of Tennessee do not make laws 
directly. The simplest and most direct method of organiz- 
ing the government of a community is that in which the 
whole population of the community meets to make laws 
and choose officers. This form of government is illus- 
trated in the New England town meeting (see page 136) 
and is called democratic — a word which means government 
by the people. Surely it is not difficult for you to see, how- 
ever, that where county government exists, as it does in 
Tennessee, it is impossible for the whole people to come 
together in a single meeting to determine what their laws 
shall be. So also in the populous cities such a form of 
government would be impossible, for no hall could be 
found large enough to hold the whole population of the 
city ; and if everybody in the city were allowed freely to 
express his own ideas upon each question that arose, cer- 
tainly little would be accomplished. If such a form of 
government is not practicable in counties and cities, it is 
all the more impossible when it comes to making laws for 
the whole State. Imagine the difficulty of attempting to 
assemble all the people of the State of Tennessee in one 
place to make laws ! 

111. What we mean by representative government. The 
people in Tennessee, as in the other States of the Union, 
have solved the difficulty by what we call representative 
government. Instead of making laws directly themselves, 
the people choose representatives to do this for them. That 

149 



150 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

is why there is in each county a. group of representatives 
known as the county court; and in each city, a city coun- 
cil; and for the State as a whole, a General Assembly, 
Each of these representative bodies has the power to make 
regulations for the people. Not only do the people 
choose their law-makers in this way, but, as we have seen, 
they also designate what officers are to execute these laws 
and what officers are to interpret them. This they accomp- 
lish either by direct election, as in the case of the Gover- 
nor, the judges, and many other officers ; or by giving 
their representatives the power to choose other officers, 
as in the case of the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, 
the State Comptroller, and the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, and as in the case of a number of county and 
city officers. 

112. Why all of us do not share in the government. Now 
the question arises : does every person in each community 
of Tennessee have an equal share in choosing these re- 
presentatives? In other words, does everybody in Ten- 
nessee have the right to vote? For a great many reasons 
this is not the case ; and some of them you can easily 
understand. It would not be expected, for instance, that 
the children of any community should have a share in 
selecting the officers of the government. Nor are the 
women in Tennessee permitted to vote at elections, al- 
though, some of the States in the Union give them this 
right. Again, foreigners who have not yet become citi- 
zens of the United States, and citizens of other States, 
who may happen to be temporarily in Tennessee at the 
time of an election, are not permitted to vote. Usually, 
too, persons who have been convicted of crime are pro- 
hibited from voting even after they have been released 
from prison. 



WHO TAKES PART IN THE GOVERNMENT 151 

113. Qualifications for those who vote. Perhaps it will 
be well for us to classify the several qualifications which a 
man must possess in order to vote at elections in Tennessee. 
1. Age, sex, and citizens/tip. First of all, a person desir- 
ing to vote must be a man, who is a citizen of the United 
States (that is, one who owes no allegiance to any foreign 
government), and who has reached the age of twenty-one 
years. 2. Residence. It is required also that he shall have 
resided in Tennessee for one year, and in the particular 
county, in which he offers to vote, for six months pre- 
ceding the election. For voting purposes the communi- 
ties are divided into wards and precincts ; and the law 
provides that a man offering to vote shall have resided 
in his precinct for at least thirty days. ■ >. "Registration. 
Suppose a man who is not known in a particular com- 
munity presents himself on the morning of an election 
and desires to cast his vote. It might be very difficult 
in thickly settled communities for the officers who have 
the election in charge to find out whether he really pos- 
sesses the qualifications necessary for a voter. The laws 
therefore provide that in such communities the voting 
places, or polls as they are called, shall be "opened for 
registration" on certain days prior to the election. Dur- 
ing this period any person desiring to vote must present 
himself, prove his qualifications, and have his name prop- 
erly enrolled upon the registration books. On the elec- 
tion day only those are permitted to vote whose names 
are to be found in these books. 4. The poll -tax. Every 
male resident of the State over twenty-one and under 
fifty years of age is required to pay, under the present 
law, a yearly poll-tax of one dollar. In addition to this, 
a majority of the counties impose on every male inhabitant 
an additional poll-tax of one dollar, both of these poll- 



152 



HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 



taxes being devoted, as we have learned, to the support 
of schools. No man can vote at any election in the State 
of Tennessee who has not paid all of the poll-taxes^ 
assessed against him. This requirement results in reduc- 
ing the number of voters in the State. It cuts off from 
the voting lists those in every community who do not 
take enough interest in the affairs of the government to 
pay their poll-taxes; and it helps to shut out the vote of 
that class of worthless, shiftless men who not only have 
nothing with which to pay this small tax, but frequently 
are unwilling or unable to support themselves. A man 
who ' cannot manage his own affairs certainly ought to 
have no share in managing the affairs of the government. 
The makers of our Constitution showed great wisdom in 
providing that every voter should be required to pay his 
poll-taxes. < | 

114. Places of election. Every county in Tennessee is 
divided into civil districts and every city into wards. 
Usually these, districts and wards are further divided into 
voting precincts. In each precinct there is one place at 
which votes may be cast at any election. These voting 
places are generally advertised so that every voter may 
know where he must go to register and later to cast his 
vote. In charge of these places are certain officers of 
election appointed in accordance with the law. These offi- 
cers first examine the books and determine whether a person 
desiring to vote is properly registered. If his registration 
proves to be satisfactory, they permit him to cast his vote. 

115. How the votes are cast. In the early days of our 
history it was the custom, when voters went to the polls, 
to read them the names of the candidates for office and to 
ask them which candidate they desired to vote for. There- 
upon the voter would call the name of the candidate of his 



WHO TAKES PART IN THE GOVERNMENT 153 

choice. Under such a system everybody knew how every- 
body else voted. The result was that men could not always 
vote with independence, because of what other people 
might think of them. They might be made to suffer in 
some way for voting as they thought best. 

Today, however, we have a wholly different system. It 
is usually impossible for anybody to know how anybody 
else votes. When a person goes to the polls, he is given 
a slip of paper called a ballot with the names of the dif- 
ferent candidates printed on it. He then retires, usually 
to a booth where no one else is permitted, and with a pen- 
cil he makes a cross after the names of those for whom 
he desires to cast his vote, lie folds this ballot and sees 
that it is deposited in a sealed ballot bos. None of these 
ballots are examined until the election is closed. You see, 
therefore, that it is impossible for one voter to tell how 
any other voter has cast his ballot. 

The election usually lasts for one day, from 9 a. m. to 4 p. m. 
At its close the ballot boxes are opened and the ballots counted. 
The count, or return as it is called, is then sent to the county 
board appointed for that purpose, and these boards add up the re- 
turns from the various voting precincts. In case the election is 
for State officers, these local boards send their returns to the 
Board of State Election Commissioners, who add the returns from 
all the counties of the State and announce the result of the elec- 
tion. 

116. Our duty toward the government. There was a 
time in the early history of our country when every man of 
intelligence and culture looked upon it as a duty and a 
privilege to take some active part in the government. 
Nearly all the truly great men were politicians. Govern- 
ment and politics was the field in which any ambitious 
young man sought to make a name for himself. Today 



154 



HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 



the attitude which most men assume toward politics is 
quite different. Many noble men think it beneath them 
"to dabble in politics. " In consequence, they sometimes 
permit the affairs of the government to be directed by low 
political bosses and shrewd schemers who have only their 
own interests at heart. Nothing can be more hurtful to 
any community than this attitude which many good men 
assume. Of course, today it is impossible for every man 
to enter politics. It is not even desirable. But every man 
should be interested in all the undertakings of the govern- 
ment, and this means that he should be interested in 
politics. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

i. What do we mean by democratic government? Would it be 
possible in your community for the people to make their laws 
directly? How are the laws made? Who makes the laws for the 
whole State? What kind of government do we call this? Why? 

2. Explain how a man shares in the government by voting. Why 
do not children have this right? Women? Foreigners? Citizens 
of other States? Persons who have committed crimes? 

3. Mention all the qualifications for voters in Tennessee. Take 
each of these qualifications separately, and tell whether you think 
it is necessary or unnecessary, and why. What are the advantages 
of the poll-tax requirement? 

4. Find out, if you can, how many precincts there are in your 
civil district or your city ward. In what precinct do you live? 
Find out where the voting place of your precinct was located at 
the last election. 

5. Explain the old method of voting. Explain how the votes are 
cast today. What was accomplished by the change from the old 
method? What is a ballot? A ballot box? Who counts the votes? 

6. What is meant by registration? Why is it necessary? 

7. Explain how it is the duty of every man to be interested in 
politics. To whom does the government belong? Explain how the 
government is a part of us. What is our duty towards it? How 
will we suffer if we fail in this duty? 



CHAPTER XVI 

HOW POLITICAL PARTIES CONTROL THE 
GOVERNMENT OF TENNESSEE 

117. What political parties are. All of you have doubt- 
less heard of political parties — the Democratic Party and 
the Republican Party, for instance. What do we mean by 
political parties, and how did they come to be formed? 
Political parties have existed in the United States almost 
from the beginning of our history as a nation. In Presi- 
dent Washington's administration the people of the coun- 
try began to divide into two great classes according as they 
believed that the national government should exercise wide 
powers under the newly adopted Constitution, or that it 
should exercise only those powers that were expressly 
granted to it. These classes were known as political par- 
ties and were called at first Federalists and Anti-Federalists. 
From that day to this, political parties have existed in the 
United States. New parties have arisen and died ; old par- 
ties have changed their names, or retaining their names, 
have changed their policies ; but on questions of politics, 
the people have always been divided into parties. 

Indeed, wherever the people share in the government of 
a country, parties will surely spring up. Those people who 
believe that the government should do this or that thing 
must act together ; and those who oppose them must also 
act together. In this acting together parties originate. 
We sometimes hear a man of one party vigorously de- 
nounce the other party ; and sometimes, too, we hear men 

155 



156 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

regret that there are any parties at all. But parties are 
invaluable aids to good government. They watch each 
other closely. If a party in control of the government 
fails to make wise laws, or to choose good officers, the 
other party will surely find it out, and perhaps at the next 
election will succeed in defeating the party in power. 
Parties help to keep alive our active interest in the affairs 
of government and exert a controlling influence over the 
action of our law-makers and officers. 

118. How parties are organized. If a party is well organ- 
ized, it can more easily and more successfully get its can- 
didates into office. This organization is accomplished by 
means of committees. In every party there is a State com- 
mittee having general control over the affairs of the party, 
and in addition there are local committees in the different 
counties and cities of the State. These committees arrange 
for political meetings and for addresses to be delivered by 
party leaders and candidates for office. They stir up gen- 
eral interest in the election and in the affairs of the govern- 
ment, and seek to draw out as large a vote for their own 
party as possible. They also determine many important 
questions in regard to the method of choosing candidates. 
You must not think, however, that these party committees 
are a part of the government. Political parties are merely 
organizations of the people for the purpose of controlling 
the government ; they are not a part of the government. 

119. Party conventions and primary elections. Suppose 
that one political party in the State has many more voters 
than another party; and suppose that in the larger party 
there are many candidates seeking, for instance, the office 
of Governor, while in the smaller party there is only one 
candidate. The larger party would probably divide its 
vote among the various candidates. You can readily see 



POLITICAL PARTIES IX TENNESSEE 



157 



that this might cause the candidate of the smaller party, 
receiving the whole of his party vote, to be elected. Thus 
in the table below, candidate D would be elected over A, 
B, and C, although his party cast only half as many votes 
as the other. 



Larger 
Party 


Vote for 

Candidate 

A 

30,000 


Vote for 

Candidate 

B 

40.000 


Vote for 

Candidate 

C 

50,000 


Total 
Vote 

120,000 


Smaller 
Party 


Vote for 

Candidate 

D 

60,000 






Total 
Vote 

60.000 



In order that the party vote may not be wasted in this 
manner, it is usually necessary to choose the party candi- 
dates for office before the election comes up. Formerly a 
party might, if it wished, accomplish this by means- of a 
party convention. If the election was for State officers, this 
convention was called by the State party committee and 
was composed of delegates from the various communities 
of the State. 

The law now requires, however, that candidates be chosen 
by means of primary elections. A primary election is an 
election held by the party for the purpose of nominating 
the candidates for office which the party desires to support 
at the general election which follows. You must bear in 
mind that a primary election is not really an election at all. 
It is only a nomination by the party. For instance, a certain 
man may be elected at the primary as the Democratic 
candidate for Governor. This means only that the mem- 
bers of the Democratic Party will vote for him in the 



158 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

general election held a few months later, when he must 
stand against the Republican, the Prohibition, and per- 
haps other party candidates. 

In any party primary the voters of the other party are 
not supposed to take part. Moreover, no one can vote 
unless he is qualified to vote at the regular election. 

120. Local nominations. In local elections — that is, 
county, town, and city elections — the State or the local 
party committee usually decides whether candidates shall 
be chosen by a local convention or at a primary election. 
A man becomes a candidate for the party nomination by 
announcing his intention to the committee, and by paying 
a fee to assist in defraying the expenses of the primary. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. Try to find out which political party is the stronger in your 
community. Are most of your county or city officers Democrats 
or Republicans? Were they nominated for office at a primary? 
Were they nominated by a convention? If not, why not? 

2. To what political party do the present Governor and the other 
State officers belong? How were these officers nominated? Ex- 
plain why the primary election was necessary for their nomina- 
tion. Explain, then, what you mean by a primary election. 

3. Who may vote at a primary election? Is the primary really 
an election at all? 

4. How do political parties help to create good government? 
Are they a part of the government? 

5. Explain how political parties are organized. Why is it neces- 
sary for them to organize? What powers and duties have the party 
committees? Find out, if you can, what party committees there are 
in your community. 

6. Explain why it is necessary for parties to choose candidates 
before the election. What would be the probable result if they did 
not do so? 



PART II 

HOW WE ARE GOVERNED 

IN THE NATION 




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HOW WE ARE GOVERNED 
IN THE NATION 



CHAPTER XVII 

HOW THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 
PROTECTS AND ASSISTS US 

121. The necessity for the national government. We 
have already noted the many things which the government 
of Tennessee does for the benefit of those who live within 
the limits of the State. Similar protection and assistance 
are provided for their inhabitants by the governments of 
all the other States of the Union. But these States, as we 
all know, are only parts of one great nation. In addition 
to the State governments, there is over our whole country 
a powerful national government with its seat at Wash- 
ington. 

After the Revolutionary War was fought and our inde- 
pendence was won, there w T ere many reasons which 
prompted the people of the new States to unite and estab- 
lish a national government. They had so many interests 
in common, and there were so many things that could be 
best attended to by a government representing the people 
of all the States. Moreover, in spite of the fact that the 
people were separated into thirteen States, they were in 
many respects one people. Most of their ancestors were 
English. They spoke the English language. They had 

161 



162 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

similar laws, similar governments, and similar ideas about 
the rights and liberties that people living in a community 
ought to enjoy. 

In the next chapter we shall see how the Union came to 
be established and how our national Constitution was 
framed and adopted. This Constitution declares what 
powers our national government shall exercise and in what 
ways it shall provide for the protection and welfare of the 
people of the entire nation. Our State indeed provides in 
many ways for our safety and happiness, but our national 
government also undertakes many important things for 
us — things which are of interest to the people in all parts 
of our great country and which could not be satisfactorily 
provided by the separate States. Let us note some of the 
more important things that are placed under national con- 
trol. 

122. How the national government controls foreign 
affairs. We have seen that when people live in a com- 
munity conflicts often arise in the exercise of their rights 
and desires. Now in many respects nations associate with 
one another just as people do; and, like people, they are 
apt to have disagreements. The United States is today 
one of the leading powers of the world. American citizens 
are constantly traveling in foreign countries ; they carry on 
enormous commerce with the citizens of other nations; 
American vessels sail upon every sea. With all this asso- 
ciation between the people of the United States and the 
people of other countries, we should be continually getting 
into serious difficulties if some means were not provided 
for the peaceful regulation of affairs between nations. Our 
affairs with foreign countries are controlled entirely by our 
national government. Let us see how our foreign affairs 
are carried on. 



POWERS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 163 

1 The making of treaties. The government of the 
United States makes agreements on a great variety of sub- 
jects with the governments of other nations. These agree- 
ments are usually known as treaties. In many ways they 
regulate the conduct of nations and their citizens toward 
one another. The United States has more than three hun- 
dred such treaties in force to-day. 

When it seems advisable to make a treaty with any for- 
eign power, the President usually chooses some person 
especially fitted to represent the United States, and in- 
structs him in regard to the proposed treaty. This repre- 
sentative confers with a similar representative appointed 
by the other government. When the treaty has been 
drawn up in accordance with the President's instructions, 
it must be sent to the Senate and must be approved by a 
two-thirds vote of that body. The Senate may change 
the treaty or reject it entirely. The power to make 
treaties, therefore, is placed in the hands of the President 
and the Senate. Many difficulties between the United 
States and foreign nations are avoided by means of these 
treaties. They help to preserve peace and to strengthen 
our friendship with foreign governments. 

2. Diplomatic representatives. It has long been the cus- 
tom for each civilized nation to keep at the capital of 
every other nation a permanent representative known as a 
diplomatic representative. These representatives are 
called ambassadors or ministers, according to their rark. 
The United States sends ambassadors to ten of the more 
important nations of the world and ministers to nearly all 
other countries. At Washington, representatives are like- 
wise received from these countries. Through these diplo- 
matic representatives nations communicate one with the 
other. If, for example, the United States government de- 



1 64 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

sires to communicate with the government of Germany, 
the message is sent through our ambassador at Berlin. 
Diplomatic agents help to keep the relations between 
nations peaceful; for they are always at hand to assist in 
the speedy and friendly settlement of any disagreement 
that arises. Frequently, too, they are instructed by the 
President to assist in drawing up new treaties. Our am- 
bassadors and ministers are appointed by the President 
with the approval of the Senate. 

S. The making of war. In spite of these means provided 
for keeping peace between nations, disagreements some- 
times arise which cannot be settled peacefully, and appeal 
must be made to arms. In the United States, Congress 
alone has the power to declare war against a foreign 
nation. The making of war is a matter of great impor- 
tance to the people of all the States ; it would never do to 
let each State have the power to declare war whenever it 
chose to do so. Since the Revolutionary War the United 
States has declared war on only two important occasions — 
in 1812, against Great Britain, and in 1898, against Spain. 
The Mexican War of 1848 was begun by Mexico. 

Jf. Foreign Commerce. You can easily understand the 
troubles that would arise if each State of the Union could 
admit or restrict foreign commerce as it pleased. States 
would vie with one another to secure the largest amount of 
foreign trade. Each State would make its own agree- 
ments with foreign nations in regard to this matter, and 
the result would be endless confusion and much bitterness. 
To avoid this, foreign commerce is placed entirely under 
the control of the national government. In the exercise 
of this power over foreign commerce, Congress has placed 
duties on most of the manufactured articles that are 
brought into the United States, and many treaties and 



POWERS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 165 

agreements have been made with foreign governments to 
encourage trade and commerce. We shall see later on 
that certain restrictions are placed upon the national gov- 
ernment in the exercise of its power to lay duties on for- 
eign goods brought into the United States. (See 
page 203.) 

To each of the important seaports of the world the 
United States sends a representative known as a consular 
agent. It is the duty of these consuls to encourage Ameri- 
can commerce and to assist and protect American vessels 
in foreign ports. They send extensive reports to our gov- 
ernment at Washington ; and these reports are published 
for the benefit of those who are interested in shipping 
goods to foreign countries. 

123. How the nation is protected. We have seen some 
of the many ways by which our State government pro- 
vides for the protection of our lives. (See chapter II.) 
In addition to this protection afforded by the State gov- 
ernments, our national government makes provision for 
our protection against foreign enemies. This is accom- 
plished by means of the army and navy, and by construct- 
ing forts and other defences along the coasts. 

1. The Army. The different nations of Europe are situ- 
ated so close to one another that disagreements are likely 
to arise frequently among them. The result is that they 
have, as a rule, been obliged to maintain large standing 
armies at great expense. The United States is not, like 
the countries of Europe, surrounded by numerous foreign 
States. We occupy a large portion of a whole continent, 
and we are the most powerful independent nation on the 
continent. In consequence, we have not found it neces- 
sary to support a large standing army. Nevertheless, we 
have always maintained a small army, ready at any time of 



166 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

need to defend and protect the nation. The President is 
commander-in-chief of the army, but Congress must pro- 
vide for its support. In recent years the United States 
has acquired important islands in the far seas. In order 
to protect these, we shall perhaps find it necessary in the 
future to keep a somewhat larger standing army than we 
have needed in the past. 

Not only does the army provide for the defence of the 
nation against enemies from without, but sometimes it is 
used to preserve peace within the States, or to help in 
carrying out the national laws. Troops of the army, how- 
ever, are never sent to the aid of any State unless the gov- 
ernor or the State legislature requests the President to 
send them. In the winter of 1907-08, the Governor of 
Nevada, fearing the results of a serious strike among the 
mining employees of that State, called for the assistance of 
the national army; and the President, acting upon his re- 
quest, sent a body of national troops to prevent any dis- 
turbance that might arise. 

Whenever he thinks it necessary the President may also 
employ the national troops to enforce the laws of the 
nation. In 1894 there was a large strike among the rail- 
way operators at Chicago, one of the most important rail- 
way centers in the United States. Commerce between the 
States was seriously interfered with, and trains carrying 
the United States mails were held up. President Cleve- 
land promptly dispatched troops of the United States to 
put down the disturbance in order that the trains might 
continue, under the laws of Congress, to catrry the mails 
and the commerce going from one State into another. 

2. The Militia. If our country should be invaded by a 
foreign enemy, our small standing army would probably be 
unable to repel the invasion. We have seen that in our 



POWERS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 167 

own State there is an organized militia for the purpose of 
preserving the peace of the State in times of unusual dan- 
ger (See pages 31, 119.) In nearly all the other States 
similar provision is made for maintaining companies of 
militia. The national government has the power to call 
out the State militia for the purpose of defending the na- 
tion against invasion or insurrection. Congress also makes 




The American Fleet 

Leaving Hampton Roads in the fall of 1907 on the famous 
cruise around the world 

general rules for the organization and discipline of the 
State militia throughout the United States. 

S. The Navy. If the United States should go to war 
with any nation of Europe, neither country would be likely 
to send a large army to attack the other. Much of the 
fighting would naturally take place on the water. This 
was shown in our recent war with Spain. Some of the 



168 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

fighting, indeed, took place in the island of Cuba, which 
was a Spanish possession close to our own shores; but the 
real test between the two nations was in the struggle be- 
tween the navies. Because of our position, therefore, it 
has been necessary for our national government to pro- 
vide a large and well-equipped navy. Especially is this 
necessary since we acquired the Philippine Islands, for it 
is largely by means of the navy that these far off posess- 
sions must be protected. Our navy is being constantly 
strenghtened by the addition of new and powerful vessels 
of war. 

Jf. The Coast Defence. In addition to the protection pro- 
vided by the army and the navy, it is necessary that the 
seaports of our country should be fortified against 
attacks that might be made by the war vessels of an enemy. 
At important points along the seacoast and the shores of 
the great lakes, strong forts are built with powerful bat- 
teries of large guns. Harbors are usually protected also 
by sub-marine torpedoes, or mines, as they are called, laid 
at the bottom of the channel. These mines are connected 
with the land by electric wires and can be exploded under 
an enemy's vessel. In addition to these fort and harbor 
protections, there are also vessels especially built for the 
coast defence. 

Since Tennessee is an inland State, having no seacoasts, 
the national government has, of course, provided none of 
these defences within the State. Fortifications are pro- 
vided, however, at the entrance to the Mississippi river. 

It is the national government, too, which provides those 
protections for life and property along the coasts which 
we learned of in the earlier part of our study. It erects 
lighthouses and maintains life-saving stations. (See page 
27.) It also spends large sums of money in improving 



POWERS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 169 

harbors and rivers for the purposes of navigation. (See 
page 74. J Thus we see that the government of our 
nation provides in many ways for the protection of our 
lives in addition to the protection thrown around us by 
the government of our State. 

124. How the national government controls inter-State 
commerce. In this day of frequent travel and the enormous 
growth of commerce between different parts of the Union, 
we sometimes almost forget that there are any boundaries 
between the States. We sit in a railway train and are 
whirled through half a dozen States in a single day. 
The early fruits and vegetables that are grown on the 
farms of Tennessee are sold in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and 
New York. The goods we buy in the shops have drawn 
their raw material from one section of the United States, 
have been manufactured in another, and are sold in a 
third. Goods are sent from one State to another as easily 
as they are sent from one local community to another. 
This tremendous commerce between the States passes over 
the water routes and the great railway lines. 

Now suppose that one State had the power to prohibit 
the people of another State from entering its territory, or 
suppose that each State could lay duties on goods coming 
from another State. A great deal of confusion would 
naturally result, and much of this travel and commerce 
would be interrupted. To avoid this difficulty the national 
government is given complete control over inter-State 
commerce — that is, commerce passing from one State to 
another. It has been the general policy of the national 
government to permit commerce to be carried on between 
the States without restrictions of any kind. 

125. How the national government controls our money 
system. It is very necessary that the government in any 



i;o HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

country should regulate in the strictest manner the money 
that is used in the country. People must be sure always 
that whatever they receive as money will, in turn, be re- 
ceived by other people ; and they must be protected against 
frauds. You can understand, therefore, the necessity for 
the government's control over the money we use. 




Making Paper Money 

Scene in the Bureau of Printing and Engraving at Washing- 
ton, where our paper money is engraved 

Now imagine what endless confusion would result if 
every State coined its own money. Each of us would have 
to remember the value of coins made in forty-eight differ- 
ent States, and we should probably have in our pockets 
coins of every variety. This would be annoying beyond 



POWERS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 171 

description. For this reason the national government has 
been Riven the power to establish one system of coins 
throughout the country to be used by the people in every 

State. 

In order for the national government to protect us 
against frauds it must make provision for coining the 
money we use. This could not be left to private indivi- 
duals. United States mints have been established, there- 
fore, in which the coins are made; and laws have been 
passed for the severe punishment of any individual^ who 
attempts to duplicate, or counterfeit, as we say, United 
States coins. 

The national government also issues paper money. 
You must not imagine, however, that the government can 
issue any amount of paper money that it chooses. A 
great many people have this mistaken idea. A dollar bill 
issued by the national government is simply a promise 
made by the government that it will pay a dollar in silver 
to the bearer of that bill whenever he demands it. The 
government keeps in the national treasury a large part of 
the gold and silver coins. Now if the government issued 
an enormous number of paper bills, it would be unable to 
pay them upon demand. This would soon be known, and 
the bills themselves would become worthless. 

The State governments are forbidden by the national 
Constitution either to coin money or to issue paper money. 
This is because it is of great importance that there should 
be in the United States only one system of money regu- 
lated entirely by the national government. 

The national government also determines what weights 
and measures shall be lawfully used as standards. This 
helps to avoid confusion and dishonesty in business 
throughout the entire country. 



172 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

126. How the national government controls immigration 
and naturalization. For many years our country has been 
attracting a large number of foreigners from the various 
nations of Europe and Asia. These people, in many cases, 
come from lands of oppression and poverty. They see in 
the United States a land of opportunity and promise. They 
swarm over the seas by the thousands every year. Indeed, 
more than a million have sometimes come to us in a 
single year. 

Many of these foreign immigrants belong to the lower 
classes of their home countries. In times past they were 
often paupers, who had to be supported by our govern- 
ment after they landed in America. Immigration is a 
serious problem in the United States, and the national 
government has undertaken to regulate it. The laws pre- 
vent criminals, paupers and diseased and insane persons 
from entering the country. Moreover, every foreigner who 
comes over to settle in America has to pay a tax of four 
dollars when he lands, and he must have a sum of money 
in his pocket in order to show that he is not likely to become 
a public burden. 

i The national government provides that, in due course of 
tome, these foreigners may become American citizens by a 
process called naturalization. Before a foreigner can be- 
come a naturalized citizen of the United States, he must 
have resided in this country at least five years, and he must 
have declared his intention to become a citizen at least two 
years before he is admitted to citizenship. After a for- 
eigner has been granted his naturalization papers by the 
government, he enjoys the same privileges that belong to 
a natural-born citizen of the United States, with the single 
exception that he can never become the nation's President 
or Vice-President. 



POWERS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 173 

Foreigners of the same nationality frequently settle together in 
some section of one of our large cities, retaining their foreign lan- 
guage and customs. They thus become a danger to our nation, 
for they do not understand our life and government. Fortunately, 
however, many of them scatter over the country. These quickly 
lose their foreign characteristics and adopt our language, our cus- 
toms, and our ideas. In other words, they become Americans. 
The school is perhaps the most important means by which the 
children of these foreigners are taught to understand our ways of 
living and thinking. Educated in our schools, many of them grow 
up to become good American citizens. Immigrants from England, 
Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and Sweden adopt American ideas 
very rapidly; but others — like the Russians, the Italians^ and the 
Syrians — are very slowly "Americanized." 

This problem of immigration is much more serious in some 
parts of the United States than it is in others. In large cities, like 
New York and Chicago, the foreign populations give a great deal of 
trouble. On the Pacific coast the large population of Chinese and 
other Asiatic peoples is a constant source of annoyance and diffi- 
culty. The national government at length found it necessary to 
pass a law prohibiting the Chinese and other Orientals from enter- 
ing this country, for it was feared that they would soon outnumber 
the whites along the western coast. 

127. How the national government controls the postal 
service. The carrying of the mails is one of the most im- 
portant services undertaken by the national government for 
the welfare of the people. This business of carrying the 
mails is under the exclusive control of the national gov- 
ernment. By means of the thousands of post-offices 
scatteied throughout the land, the people in the different 
communities are brought into easy communication with 
one another. We have already learned something of the 
reforms that have been brought about in the postal service, 
and of the important part it plays in the business and 
social life of the nation. (See page Jj.) 

128. How the national government controls patents and 
copyrights. When a man writes a book or invents a ma- 



174 



HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 



chine, his book or his invention is really a part of his 
property. Unless he is protected in this property, however, 
some one else may reprint his book or manufacture his 
machine without his consent, and thus deprive him of his 
profit. In order to encourage authors and inventors, the 
government provides them with protection for their work. 




Making Postage Stamps 

Scene in the Bureau of Printing and Engraving at Washing, 
ton, where postage stamps are printed 



To the author is issued a copyright on his book, and to 
the inventor a patent upon his invention. The govern- 
ment makes it unlawful for any one to republish a book 
that has been copyrighted or to manufacture a machine or 
other device that has been patented. 



POWERS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 175 

129. Summary. Thus we see that the government of 
our nation provides in many important ways for the pro- 
tection and welfare of the people of the whole country. 
This it does by regulating foreign and inter-State affairs, 
by providing for the national defence, and by controlling 
such things as the money system, naturalization, the 
postal service, patents, and copyrights. These are things 
which could not be satisfactorily undertaken by the 
separate States. It is of great importance that they should 
be regulated in a uniform manner throughout the entire 
nation. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. Does your State maintain an army? A navy? A postal 
tern? Does it build forts and protect harbors? Make treaties? 
Send diplomatic representatives to foreign nations? Coin money? 
Issue paper money? Show how each of these things is nec 

for our protection or welfare. By whom are these things under- 
taken, and why? Explain, then, the necessity for our national 
government. 

2. In what ways do the people of the United States associate 
with the people of foreign countries? Suppose a dispute arises be- 
tween the United States and Great Britain ; who settles it ? Who 
has control over all our foreign affairs, and why? 

3. Could your State make a treaty with Germany? Why? Ex- 
plain how treaties between the United States and a foreign gov- 
ernment are made? Why are they made? How do they help us 
as a nation? Mention some of the treaties you have learned 
about in history. Why were they made? 

4. What are ambassadors and ministers? Does your State ap- 
point or receive ambassadors and ministers? Why? Who chooses 
the diplomatic representatives of the United States? Where are 
they sent? Why are they sent? What is the difference between 
an ambassador and a minister? Find out, if you can. to which 
countries the United States sends ambassadors. Find out, if you 
can, the names of some of our present diplomatic representatives. 
To what countries are they sent? 



176 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN TENNESSEE 

5. In the United States who has the power to declare war, and 
why? Who controls foreign commerce, and why? Who makes 
regulations for the vessels and goods which come from abroad and 
land at the seaports of the United States? 

6. Who maintains our army? Is it large or small, and why? 
It is larger today than it was before the Spanish- American War? 
Why? Why is the army maintained? When may national troops 
be sent to protect life and property within some State? How is 
the army used to enforce the laws of the nation? Do you recall 
any instance of this? What part does the State militia have in the 
defence of the nation? 

7. Explain why the United States is obliged to maintain a large 
navy. Explain how the seacoast is protected. Are there any such 
protections in your State? Why? Why is the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi river fortified? 

8- Can your State prohibit persons from coming into the State 
from other States? Can your State prohibit goods from being 
brought in from other States? Why? What do we mean by inter- 
State commerce? Who controls it? Why? 

9. Who coins the money we use? Why is your State not per- 
mitted to coin money? What is a mint? Why does the national 
government maintain mints? What is meant by counterfeiting? 
Why is it made a criminal offense? What is paper money? Who 
issues it? Why? Does your State issue any paper money? Why? 
Can the national government issue any amount of paper money it 
chooses? Who fixes the weights and measures we use in our 
stores? 

10. What people are known as immigrants? Where do they 
come from, and why? When do they become dangerous? What 
is meant by naturalization? Who controls this? 

11. Where is your nearest post-office? Who maintains it? Why? 
Tell all that you know about the postal service in your community. 
What are patents and copyrights? By whom are they issued and 
why? Look in the front of one of your school books and see who 
copyrighted it. What does this mean? Have you ever seen any 
article marked "patented" or "patent applied for?" Tell about 
the article, and explain why it was patented. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE NATION 

130. What the national Constitution is. In our earlier 
study we learned that our State government undertakes 
to provide many important benefits for us ; and we saw 
how that government is organized under Tennessee 
Constitution. In the preceding chapter we have learned 
that our national government provides for our protection 
and welfare in many other important ways. Our national 
government also is organized under a Constitution. This 
Constitution determines what powers the government of 
the nation shall exercise throughout the entire Union. Let 
us see how the Union of States came to be formed and 
how the national Constitution was framed and established, 

131. Why the colonies first united. You doubtless re- 
member that during the colonial period of our history 
each of the thirteen colonies was under the control of 
the British government. There was, however, no sort of 
union which bound them together ; each colony was in- 
dependent of the others. They were forced to join hands 
only because the Parliament of the mother country began 
to oppress them and to impose upon them taxes which 
they felt were unjust. They realized fully that if their 
revolt against this oppression was to be successful they 
would have to act together. The colonists therefore de- 
termined to send delegates to a Continental Congress 
which should represent them in their struggle with Great 
Britain. It was this Congress which issued the Declara- 

177 



178 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

tion of Independence and provided for carrying on the 
Revolutionary War. The success of the war freed the 
colonies from British control. They were no longer de- 
pendent colonies; they were independent States. 

During the period of the war the Continental Congress 
exercised whatever powers were necessary. But naturally 
after peace was established the people were unwilling to 
have this Congress govern them as it chose. Even while 
the war was going on, steps were taken to determine how 
the government of the Union should be organized and 
what powers it should exercise. 

132. What the Articles of Confederation were. In 1777 
a committee of the Continental Congress drew up a plan 
of government for the new Union. The document which 
they prepared was known as the Articles of Confederation. 
It was provided that this government should not go into 
operation until every one of the thirteen States had agreed 
to accept it. In 1781 the last State gave its consent, and 
the government provided for by the Articles of Con- 
federation was set in motion. 

The government established by the Articles of Con- 
federation proved to be very unsatisfactory. The war had 
been costly, and the States were deeply in debt. Money 
was needed for carrying on the work of the new govern- 
ment; but the government had no means for raising 
money. It had no power to levy taxes upon the people. 
It had to call upon the different States to contribute to 
its support. The Congress of the Confederation had no 
power to compel the States to pay their contributions, or 
indeed to compel obedience to any of the laws of the 
Union. 

As the years w'jnt on, the government became more 
and more hopelessly in debt. More than once the attempt 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE NATION 179 

was made to change the Articles of Confederation so 
as to give Congress additional powers ; but no change 
could be made without the consent of every State, and 
this it was impossible to secure. The far-seeing states- 
men of the time realized that if the Union was to continue, 
something must be done to increase the powers of the 
government. Washington called it "a half-starved, limp- 
ing government, always moving upon crutches and totter- 
ing at every step. ,, 

Difficulties had early arisen between Virginia and 
Maryland over the control of commerce on the Potomac 
River and Chesapeake Bay, and these States seemed unable 
to settle their disputes. In 1785 the General Assembly of 
Virginia invited all the States to send representatives to a 
convention to be held at Annapolis the year following. 
This convention was called to consider the trade and 
commerce of the Union. Only five of the States were 
represented when the delegates came together. But a 
stirring address was issued calling upon the States to send 
delegates to another convention which should meet the 
next year in Philadelphia for the purpose of revising the 
Articles of Confederation. 

133. The Constitutional Convention of 1787. The Con- 
vention assembled in May, 1787. It was composed of 
delegates from every State except Rhode Island. Nearly 
all the truly great men of that time were among its 
members. Washington was its president, and prominent 
also among its distinguished members were Benjamin 
Franklin, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George 
Mason, Edmund Randolph, and James Wilson. Jefferson 
was not a member, for at this time he was representing 
the United States government in France. It w^as a high- 
minded, patriotic, and noble body of men, which met at a 



I So HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

critical time to determine how the Union might be 
strengthened and preserved. 

As a matter of fact, the Convention did not attempt to 
revise the Articles of Confederation. They set about the 
task of drawing up a completely new form of government. 
After nearly five months of careful deliberation behind 
closed doors, their work was completed. They had framed 
a new Constitution for the Union of States. 

134. How the Constitution was put in operation. The 
Convention sent the Constitution they had framed to the 
Congress then in session with the request that Congress, 
in turn, should send it to the States for consideration. 
In each of the thirteen States a convention representing the 
people was called together to decide whether the State 
would accept or reject the new form of government. Ac- 
cording to the plan adopted by the Convention, whenever 
nine of the States should accept the Constitution it was 
to go into operation. You must bear in mind, however, 
that each State was to make its own choice; no State was 
compelled to adopt the proposed Constitution. 

The conventions in some of the States had little diffi- 
culty in agreeing to adopt the new form of union, but in 
many others the Constitution hung in the balance for 
months. There were several reasons why the proposed 
Constitution met with so much opposition. The States, 
you will recall, had but recently been freed from the op- 
pressive yoke of Great Britain. They were now enjoying 
the luxury of independence, and they feared to give up 
any large amount of power even to a government of 
their own creation. They were afraid that as States they 
would be deprived of too many rights, and that the people 
might not be secure in their liberties. This was perhaps 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE NATION 181 

the chief objection that the' new Constitution had to over- 
come. 

By the summer of 1788, eleven States had ratified the 
Constitution. North Carolina and Rhode Island alone re- 
fused their consent. Indeed they did not come in as 
members of the new Union until after the government 
had gone into operation. Before the spring of 1789, 
Washington had been unanimously chosen the first Presi- 
dent of the United States, and the members of the first 
national Congress had been elected. The Congress of 
the old Confederation passed into history, and the govern- 
ment provided for by the national Constitution under 
which we still live came into being. 

135. How the number of States in the Union has increased. 
There were only thirteen States in existence when the new 
Constitution went into operation in 1789. But stretching 
from the western frontiers of these thirteen States along 
the Atlantic was a vast area of sparsely settled territory 
held by the government of the Union. This territory con- 
sisted of large tracts of land which, during the years fol- 
lowing the Revolutionary War, had been ceded to the 
Union by one or another of the original States. The 
framers of the Constitution realized that sooner or later 
this territory would increase in population. For this 
reason they provided in the Constitution a method by 
which new States might be admitted to the Union when- 
ever the national Congress should see fit to admit them. 
You doubtless recall from your study of history that, as 
the years went on, other immense stretches of territory 
were added to the Union by cession, purchase, or con- 
quest. In 1790 North Carolina ceded the territory com- 
prised in the present State of Tennessee. In 1802 Georgia 
ceded to the United States all the territory on her western 



182 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

frontier. Then came the gradual acquisition of the- terri- 
tory westward from the Mississippi River to the Pacific 
coast. In 1803 the United States purchased from France 
the immense territory of Louisiana. In 1819 Florida was 
purchased from Spain. The dispute with Great Britain 
over the Oregon territory in the northwest was also settled 
by the treaties of 1819, 1842, and 1846. Texas was an- 
nexed in 1845. The great southwestern section of our 
country including California was acquired from Mexico 
by conquest and treaty in 1848 and was extended by the 
Gadsden purchase in 1853. Thus the United States "grew" 
into the occupation of the better part of a continent. 

Out of all this length and breadth of territory, new 
States have one by one been admitted to the Union by 
the Congress of the nation. From the admission of Ver- 
mont in 1791 to that of New Mexico and Arizona in 1912, 
thirty-five States have been added to the original thirteen. 
As we have already learned, Tennessee came in as a mem- 
ber of the Union in 1796, being the third State admitted 
after the adoption of the Constitution in 1789. 

The national Constitution was indeed framed and adopted 
by only thirteen of our present forty-eight States. But it 
is of great importance for you to remember that every 
State has just the same duties and powers in our govern- 
ment as any other State, whether it assisted in making the 
Constitution, or whether it was admitted as a State in 
1796 or in 1912. Tennessee, since its admission to the Union 
in 1796, has enjoyed as a State the same rights and powers 
as Virginia or New York. 

136. How the government is organized under the Con- 
stitution. Under the old Articles of Confederation all 
the meager powers given to the government of the Union 
were placed in the hands of the Congress. There were 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE NATION 183 

no executive officers to put the laws into operation, and 
no courts to explain and interpret them. The only power 
which the government really had was the power to make 
laws, and this was one of the reasons why the Confed- 
eration proved to be a miserable failure. Under the new 
Constitution all this was changed. The national govern- 
ment has the power not only to make the laws but to put 
them in operation and to apply them. 

It has already been pointed out that whenever all these 
powers are placed in the hands of one group of men there 
is usually danger that the government will become tyran- 
nical. (See page 104.) The Constitution therefore provide- 
that there shall be three great departments of govern- 
ment — legislative, executive, and judicial. 

137. How the Constitution may be changed. You re- 
call that our Tennessee Constitution, being the highest 
law of the State, is considered of such importance that the 
Legislature is not permitted to change it. (See page 102.) 
This is true also of our national Constitution. Indeed it 
may be said generally that no Constitution in the United 
States, whether State or national, can be amended by the 
ordinary law-making body. 

The Constitution of the nation provides that changes, 
or amendments as they are called, may be proposed in 
Congress. But it requires that every amendment shall be 
passed by a two-thirds vote of each house, and that it 
shall then be sent to the States for consideration. No 
amendment becomes a part of the Constitution until it 
has received the consent of at least three-fourths of the 
States. 1 

^he Constitution also provides that, upon application of the 
legislatures of two-thirds of the States, Congress shall call a con- 
vention for the purpose of proposing amendments, but this method 
of amending the Constitution has never been used. 



184 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

Now as a matter of fact, it is a very difficult matter to 
secure for any amendment a two-thirds majority of both 
houses of Congress and the consent of three-fourths of 
the States. It is, in consequence, very difficult to amend 
our Constitution. Except under strong popular demand, it 
may be said to be almost impossible. Since the Consti- 
tution went into operation in 1789, more than two thousand 
amendments have been proposed in Congress. Most of 
them have failed to secure the necessary two-thirds vote, 
and nearly all of the others have been lost when they 
have been submitted to the States. Seventeen amendments, 
however, have been adopted. Let us see how these 
changes came to be made. 

138. Why the seventeen amendments were adopted. 1. The 
first ten amendments. At the time when the Constitution 
was being discussed in the different State conventions 
much fear was expressed that it did not contain sufficient 
restrictions upon the powers of the national government. 
The people were afraid that the new government might 
not be careful to protect their liberties. Several States, 
in adopting, proposed that certain amendments should 
be immediately passed for the purpose of protecting the 
people's liberties. In the first Congress which met under 
the new Constitution, these amendments received the 
necessary two-thirds vote in each house of Congress, and 
they were very quickly accepted by the States. They were 
added to the Constitution so early in its history that we 
may almost regard them as a part of the original Consti- 
tution. 

These ten amendments provide, among other things, 
for the protection of our freedom of speech and of the 
press, and our freedom of religion. They guarantee us 
the right of trial by jury in a fair and open court. They 






THE CONSTITUTION OF THE NATION 185 

prohibit the national government from imposing un- 
reasonably large fines or cruel and unusual punishments ; 
and they provide that our private property shall not be 
taken from us unless we are justly paid for it. These 
amendments protect us in certain of our rights against the 
powers of the national government only. It is important 
for you to remember that they do not restrict the powers 
of the States. As we have already learned, it is by means 
of our State Constitution that we are protected in these 
liberties against the powers of our State government. 
(See pages 47, 102.) 

2. The eleventh amendment. In 1793, four years after 
the new government had been established, trouble arose 
between the State of Georgia and the government of 
the United States over a suit that was brought against 
Georgia in the national courts. Georgia thought that the 
national government had no power to force any State to 
come before its courts. . In order that the States might be 
protected against such suits, the eleventh amendment was 
passed. We shall refer later to the protection afforded 
the States by this amendment. (See page 237.) 

3. The twelfth amendment. The original method pro- 
vided in the Constitution for electing the President and 
Vice-President of the United States proved to be very awk- 
ward and unsatisfactory. You may recall that in the year 
1801 it produced serious trouble, and a bitter contest re- 
sulted before Thomas Jefferson finally triumphed over 
Aaron Burr. A few years after Jefferson's inauguration 
the twelfth amendment was passed by Congress and 
adopted by the necessary number of States. It provided 
for our present method of electing the President and 
Vice-President. (See page 218.) 



1 86 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

Jf. The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments. 
During the period of our history just after the War between 
the States, three amendments were added to the Constitu- 
tion. They were intended primarily to protect and to give 
certain rights to the recently freed negroes. 

By the thirteenth amendment slavery was abolished 
throughout the United States. 

The fourteenth amendment provides, first of all, that "all 
persons born or naturalized (see page 172) in the United 
States are citizens of the United States and of the State 
in which they reside. ,, This, of course, grants citizenship 
to the negroes. The amendment provides also that the 
States shall give to all persons equal protection of the laws, 
and guarantees that the national government will protect 
everybody, in his life, his liberty, and his property, against 
any unjust action on the part of the States. 

The fifteenth amendment declares that no State shall 
deprive any person of his right to vote because of his "race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude. " 

5. The sixteenth amendment. Under the terms of the 
Constitution certain restrictions were placed upon Congress 
in the exercise of the taxing power. (See pages 202-203.) 
One of these restrictions prevented Congress from impos- 
ing taxes upon the people in accordance with their incomes. 
In 1909 an amendment was proposed which removed this 
restriction. By 1913 this amendment had been ratified by 
three-fourths of the States and was therefore added to the 
Constitution as the sixteenth amendment. (See pages 
201-202.) 

6. The seventeenth amendment. The Constitution pro- 
vided that United States Senators should be chosen by the 
legislatures of the several states. In 19 13 this system of 
electing Senators was changed by the adoption of the seven- 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE NATION 187 

teenth amendment. Under this amendment Senators are 
elected by a direct vote of the people. (See pages 208-210. | 

139. The importance of the Constitution. The Constitu- 
tion as it now stands consists of the original text as it 
came from the Convention of 1787 and the seventeen 
amendments which have been added. This Constitution is 
the supreme lav: of oar land. The national government can- 
not pass any law or do any act which violates the Constitu- 
tion. In making their Constitutions and laws, the States 
are likewise bound to respect and obey the terms of the 
national Constitution. 

We must bear always in mind that the Constitution did 
not attempt to set up a complete government. The State 
governments were already in existence, and they continued 
to exist. They regulate our daily lives in many more im- 
portant ways than does the national government. We have 
seen, for instance, in how many ways the government of 
our own State provides for our protection, assistance, and 
welfare. The government of our nation undertakes, as we 
have seen, to provide only those things which are for the 
common interest of the people in all the States. As we go 
on, we shall see how the national government is supported 
and how it is organized. 

Mr. Gladstone, the great English statesman, once made 
the remark that the Constitution of the United States is 
the greatest work ever struck off at any one time by the 
mind and purpose of man. When we pause to think that 
it has, with few changes, stood the test of more than a 
century, we are indeed impressed with the marvelous great- 
ness of the work of the Convention that framed it. In 1789 
the Constitution provided a national government for a 
straggling line of States along the Atlantic seaboard with 
a population of only a few millions. Today it provides for 



1 88 HpW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

the government of a mighty nation, stretching over a vast 
continent from coast to coast and extending its arms to the 
islands of the far seas — a nation with a population of more 
than one hundred millions of people. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. Explain why the American colonies were forced to unite in 
their struggle against the mother county. What were the Articles 
of Confederation? When and why were they drawn up? How 
were they adopted? Explain why the government established under 
the Articles of Confederation proved to be a failure. 

2. What was the Constitutional Convention of 1787? When, where, 
and why did it assemble? What was the result of the work of 
this Convention? Do you regard this Convention as the most im- 
portant assembly in our history? Why? 

3. How was the Constitution ratified? How many States were 
required to ratify before the Constitution went into effect? Why 
did the Constitution meet with opposition? When was the new 
government set in motion? 

4. How many States existed when the Constitution was framed? 
How many States exist today? Explain how the United States 
gradually "grew" to its present size? How are States admitted 
to the Union? Why are they admitted? When was Tennessee 
admitted? Does our State enjoy the same powers and duties as 
Pennsylvania or Georgia? 

5. Explain how the Constitution may be amended. Is it difficult 
to amend our Constitution? Do you regard this as an advantage or 
a disadvantage? 

6. How many amendments have been passed? Explain how and 
when the first ten amendments came to be adopted. Why was the 
eleventh amendment adopted? The twelfth? 

7. What amendments were adopted after the War between the 
States? What are some of the things provided for in these amend- 
ments? What two amendments were adopted in the year 1913? 

8. Does the Constitution provide a complete form of government 
for us? Why? What do you think of the importance of the Con- 
stitution ? 






CHAPTER XIX 

THE NATION AND THE STATES 

140. Our responsibility to two governments. We have 
now learned that, in addition to the government of our 
State, there is a government of our nation established 
over the entire Union of which our State is a part. And 
we have seen that our national government is organized 
under the Constitution which was framed by the Conven- 
tion of 1787. All of us, therefore, are subject not only 
to the government of our State, but also to the govern- 
ment of our nation. Each of these governments makes 
its own laws and has its own officers to carry them out. 
To each of them we owe loyalty and obedience, for each 
in its own way helps to promote our safety, peace, and 
happiness. 

Now it may be difficult for you to understand how we 
can be responsible to two governments at the same time. 
How can we be governed by two distinct groups of 
officers? You must understand that our national and 
State governments are not independent in the same way 

I that the governments of France and Germany, for in- 
stance, are independent of each other. On the contrary, 
each is dependent upon the other. Our State govern- 
ment could not exist alone, for it does not provide for 
maintaining an army and navy, for the regulation of foreign 
affairs, the making of treaties, the coining of money, and 
many other things that are controlled by the government 
of the nation. Nor could our national government exist 

189 



IQO HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

without the States, for it does not provide in general for 
the punishment of crimes, the regulation of property, the 
building of roads, the support of schools, the protection of 
health, and many other things undertaken by the State 
governments. 

In one sense, however, the national government is in- 
dependent of the States, and the States are independent of 
the national government. All the powers usually exercised 
by a national government are in the United States divided 
between the States and the nation ; and neither can exercise 
the powers belonging properly to the other. Let us see 
how this division of powers is made. 

141. What the national government may and may not do. 
The Constitution of the United States declares exactly 
what powers the national government may exercise. We 
have already learned in general what these powers are, 
When Congress wishes to pass a law on any subject, it 
must first of all find its authority to do so in the Constitu- 
tion. Otherwise the law is said to be "unconstitutional," 
which means that it is no law at all. We are not obliged 
to obey those laws which, under the Constitution, Congress 
has no power to enact. You must not think, however, that 
each of us can determine these matters for himself — 
that we may obey or disobey the laws of Congress as 
we choose. Neither is our State permitted to decide such 
matters for us. As we shall see, the Constitution provides 
a means by which we may be protected, whenever Con- 
gress attempts to pass an "unconstitutional" law. (See 
page 237.) 

You must not understand that the national government 
has only those powers which are in so many words laid 
down in the Constitution. Comparatively few powers are 
expressly or directly given to the national government 






THE NATION AND THE STATES 191 

by the Constitution. Almost from the beginning Congress 
found it necessary to exercise other powers which are only 
indirectly given, or as we say, implied in the Constitution. 

Perhaps you will best understand this by an illustration. In 
1803, when Thomas Jefferson was President of the United States, 
the territory of Louisiana was purchased from France by the 
government of the United States. This territory was a most im- 
portant acquisition for our country, contributing no little to our 
wonderful development as a nation. Now the Constitution does 
not expressly give to the government of the United States the 
power to acquire territory. But it does give that government the 
power to make treaties. It was held, therefore, that since the 
national government had this power, it could make a treaty by 
which territory might be added to our country'. The power to 
acquire territory is said to be implied in the power to make treaties. 
This is only one illustration of how the national government exer- 
cises powers that are not directly given to it by the Constitution, 
but are only implied in the grant of other powers. 

The national government may not exercise any power 
which is neither directly nor indirectly granted to it by 
the Constitution. It may not, for instance, make laws 
for the punishment of crimes like murder and robbery; or 
for the general regulation of property and business. These 
and many other powers the Constitution does not give 
to the government of the nation. 

142. What the States may do. In general it may be said 
that the States may exercise all the powers not given over 
to the national government by the Constitution of the 
United States, although, as we shall see (see page 194), there 
are a few exceptions to this. As we have learned from 
the study of our own State government, the powers re- 
served to the States are not only numerous and varied, but 
they are of tremendous importance. The States may 
not, however, interfere with those things which are 



192 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

properly undertaken by the government of the nation. 
They may not, for example, make treaties with foreign 
nations, or maintain an army and a navy, or coin money. 
With very few exceptions the powers which by the Con- 
stitution of the United States are given to the government 
of the nation are taken entirely away from the control of 
the States. 

Thus we see that the division of the powers between 
the nation and the States is provided for by the national 
Constitution. This Constitution gives to the national 
government control over those things which are of interest 
to the people of the nation as a whole ; it expressly says 
that all other powers are reserved to the States. It is of 
great importance that we should bear in mind this division 
of powers. It is the fundamental principle of our gov- 
ernment, which is called on account of it a federal system 
of government. 

143. How the national government is restricted by the 
Constitution. The most important restriction placed upon 
the national government is, as we have just learned, that it 
can exercise only the powers which are granted to it by the 
Constitution. In addition to this, however, a number of 
other restrictions are placed by the Constitution upon the 
powers of the central government. It will not be neces- 
sary for us to enumerate the entire list of these express re- 
strictions ; it will be sufficient if we get some general idea 
of their character and importance. 

As the Constitution came from the hands of the Conven- 
tion of 1787, it contained a number of prohibitions upon 
the powers of Congress. For example, after an individual 
has committed an act, Congress is forbidden to pass any 
law providing for his punishment. If the act of an indi- 
vidual is not a crime when it is committed, Congress has 



THE NATION AND THE STATES 193 

no power afterward to make it a crime. 1 Congress may 
of course, provide for the punishment of similar acts in the 
future. When a person is arrested for an offense against 
the laws of the United States, he cannot be kept in prison 
indefinitely awaiting his trial. The national government 
cannot deny him the privilege of being taken before some 
officer of the law and shown the reason for his being held. 1 
The United States government is also forbidden to grant 
any title of nobility, like the titles given in most European 
countries. Moreover, very important restrictions are 
placed upon the powers of Congress in the levying of taxes. 
(See pages 202, 203.) 

It is in the first ten amendments, however, that we find 
most of the prohibitions upon the powers of the national 
government. These amendments, as we have learned 
(see page 183), were adopted because the States feared that 
the government created by the new Constitution might 
not respect the liberties of the people. Among other 
things they protect our freedom of speech and the press, 
and our freedom of religion. (See pages 47 to 50.) They 
provide that when a person is accused of crime against the 
laws of the nation, he shall be indicted by a grand jury 
(see page 132), and shall be tried by a jury in a fair and 
open court, with the right to have his witnesses and a law- 
yer to defend him. (See pages 25, 47, 131, 132.J They 
provide, too, that our private property shall not be taken 
from us by the national government without a just com- 
pensation (see page 44) ; and that civil suits — that is, suits 

\A law providing for the punishment of a crime already com- 
mitted is called an ex post facto law. Congress may not pass any 
ex post facto law. 

'This is called the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. Our 
State Constitution also provides that this privilege shall not be de- 
nied to a person arrested for an offense against the laws of the 
State. See page 25. 



194 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

over property, debts, and the like — in which the amount 
exceeds twenty dollars shall also be tried by a jury. 

These are not all the restrictions placed upon the powers 
of the national government ; but they are sufficient to illus- 
trate how the national Constitution protects our lives, our 
liberties, and our property from any tyranny on the part of 
the officers of the national government. Similar restric- 
tions, as we have learned, are placed upon the powers of 
our State government by the Constitution of the State of 
Tennessee (See page 102.) Thus we are protected in our 
life, liberty, and property against both of the governments 
to which we owe loyalty and obedience. 

144. How the States are restricted by the national Con- 
stitution. The most important restriction upon the pow- 
ers of the States is that they may not usually exercise the 
powers given to the government of the nation. In addi- 
tion to this, the Constitution contains a few other prohibi- 
tions upon the powers of the States. For example, when 
legal agreements, or contracts as they are called, have been 
made in any State, no law can be passed by that State to 
render these contracts less binding upon the parties who 
have made them. The States also are forbidden to pass 
any law providing for the punishment of an individual for 
an act which he has already committed. (See page 193.) 
Nor can the States make agreements with one another, or 
with a foreign government; nor maintain an army and 
navy ; nor grant a title of nobility ; nor coin money. 

The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments 
also placed additional restrictions upon the powers of the 
States. They prohibit the States from re-establishing 
slavery, and from depriving any person of the right to vote 
because of his "race, color, or previous condition of 
servitude." The fourteenth amendment declares that no 



THE NATION AND THE STATES 195 

State shall "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law ; nor deny to any person within 
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The 
meaning of this sweeping declaration has never been defi- 
nitely determined. It was intended primarily to protect 
the negro race ; but it has actually been used much more 
frequently to protect corporations and others within the 
States from the operation of certain State laws. This 
whole question is very complicated; it belongs more prop- 
erly to the study of law. Any attempt to explain it in our 
elementary study of government would only confuse us. 

145. How our territories and other possessions are gov- 
erned. We have now learned how the powers of govern- 
ment are divided between the States and the nation, and 
how both are restricted by the national Constitution in the 
interest of the people's liberties and protection. We must 
remember, however, that there are parts of the United 
States which are not organized as states. There is Alaska, 
for example, purchased from Russia in 1867; there are the 
Hawaiian Islands, annexed by Congress in 1898; and there 
are the Philippine Islands and Porto Rico, acquired from 
Spain as a result of the Spanish-American War, begun in 
1898. These territories and possessions, as well as the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, occupy in our system of government a 
place entirely different from that of the states. They do 
not, like the states, enjoy any powers independent of the 
national government. The Constitution gives Congress the 
power to determine how they shall be governed. Congress 
has, indeed, organized the territories of Alaska and Hawaii 
on a plan somewhat similar to that of the State govern- 
ments; but Congress has the power to change this form 
of government at any time — a power which it could not 
exercise over the government of Tennessee or any other 



196 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

State. It is unnecessary for us to examine in detail the 
exact forms of government that Congress has established 
in the District of Columbia and the several territories and 
possessions. But it is important to remember that these 
governments are created by laws of Congress and that the 
people living under them do not enjoy all the rights and 
privileges enjoyed by the people of the states. 



QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. Could our national government make laws for the regulation 
of the school system of our State? For the management of trolley 
lines in our State? For the regulation of the sale of liquors in 
our State? Could it provide fire departments, sewer systems, 
electric lights, and street pavements for our cities? By whom are 
these things controlled? Why? 

2. Could our State maintain an army? A navy? A postal 
system? Could it build forts? Could it make treaties? Coin 
money? Issue paper money? By whom are these things con- 
trolled? Why? 

3. Explain, then, what we mean when we say that our national 
government and our State governments are independent of each 
other. How is this independence secured? Who made the divi- 
sion of powers between the States and the national government? 
How was the division made? Are the States and the national 
government independent of each other in the same way that Great 
Britain and Italy are independent? Explain the difference. 

4. Could our State exist under its present Constitution without 
the national government? Why? Could the national government 
exist without the States? Why? Explain, then, what we mean 
when we say that the States and the national government are 
dependent on each other. 

5. What is meant by a federal system of government? 

6. What is meant by the express powers of the national govern- 
ment? The implied powers? The national government once built 
a post-road through Maryland; the national government has no 
express power to build roads; how then could the government 



THE NATION AND THE STATES 197 

build this post-road? Under what power did our national govern- 
ment acquire the Philippine Islands? 

7. What is meant by the "reserved" powers? Who exercises 
these powers? 

8. Can our national government restrict our liberty in any way 
that it chooses? How is it prevented? Can it, for instance, restrict 
our freedom of speech? Can it prescribe what church you shall 
attend? Or make you contribute to the support of some church? 
Why? 

9. After you have committed some act, can the national govern- 
ment pass a law for your punishment? Why? Suppose you are 
arrested for some offense against the laws of the nation, can you 
be kept in prison indefinitely awaiting your trial? At your trial 
what rights would you have? How are these rights secured to 
you? Why were the first ten amendments to the Constitution 
passed? 

10. Does the national Constitution place any restrictions on the 
powers of the States? Mention some of these restrictions. 

11. Mention some parts of the United States which are not organ- 
ized as States. Is Alaska a State? If not, how does it differ from 
a State? 






CHAPTER XX 

HOW THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT IS 
SUPPORTED 

146. The necessity for national taxation. Just as our 
State and local governments find it necessary to raise a 
large amount of money for their support (see chapter VII), 
so our national government must have a revenue in order 
to maintain the many important services which it under- 
takes. For one of these services, the postal system, we 
indeed pay the government directly; but even in this 
department of its work, the government often expends 
more than it collects from the sale of stamps. (See page 
78.) Most of the other enterprises of the national govern- 
ment are undertaken at enormous expense. There must 
be money for the support of the army and navy, and for 
constructing defences along the coasts; for the erection at 
Washington of handsome national buildings, such as the 
Capitol, the White House, the Library of Congress, and 
the buildings occupied by the various departments of the 
government. Courts must be maintained throughout the 
land. Salaries must be paid to the President and Vice- 
President, the members of Congress, the judges of the 
courts, the heads of departments, to our diplomatic repre- 
sentatives abroad, and to thousands of less important 
officials engaged in carrying on the work of the national 
government. 

By the national Constitution the government of the 
United States is given the power to raise its revenue 

J98 



i 



NATIONAL TAXATION 199 

directly, free from any assistance or hindrance on the part 
of the States. There are three principal sources from which 
the national government has usually secured the revenue 
which it needs. Let us see what these sources of reve- 
nue are. 

147. Duties placed on imports. Almost from the begin- 
ning of our history as a nation, Congress has laid duties 
on imports from foreign countries into the United States. 
At first these duties were small, but today they are very 
large. The revenue which the national government collects 
annually from these customs duties, as they are called, has 
often amounted to more than two hundred and fifty millions 
of dollars. 

Apparently it is the importer of these goods from foreign 
countries who pays the duties on them when they are un- 
loaded at any port of the United States. In reality, how- 
ever, the importer adds the amount of the duty to the price 
charged for his goods. We ourselves actually pay the duty 
in the increased price of gloves, silks, laces, woolen goods, 
and hundreds of other articles we buy in the shops. This 
makes the burden of the customs duties seem lighter, for 
people do not realize that they are paying these duties as 
a part of the price of many articles bought in the shops. 
We ordinarily call such a tax as this an indirect tax. As 
you can easily understand, it is much less difficult to collect 
an indirect tax than a direct tax, since those who purchase 
the goods and in reality bear the tax do not pay it to any 
officer of the government. 

For the collection of the customs duties the national gov- 
ernment has established customs houses in all the seaports 
and border towns of the L'nited States. The collection is 
placed under control of the national Treasury Department. 



200 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

You may not fully understand why the national government has 
chosen to raise a large part of its revenue by placing high duties 
on imports. Many of these imports consist of articles manufactured 
abroad. In most cases these articles can be manufactured just as 
well in our own country, although they can usually be manufac- 
tured more cheaply abroad. By laying large duties upon them, 
these foreign articles are made more expensive. Thus you see 
our home manufactures are encouraged and promoted. These high 
duties are known as a protective tariff, because they "protect" our 
home industries from competition with articles manufactured more 
cheaply abroad. 

Many people in our country believe that the tariff should be kept 
high. Others believe that it ought to be low. The Democratic 
Party has in general favored a low tariff, believing that it is, after 
all, the poorer people who indirectly bear the burden of high duties. 

148. Income taxes. Our national government spends an- 
nually about $1,000,000,000. A considerable amount of this 
enormous expenditure has for many years been secured 
from the high duties placed on imports. In 1913 Congress, 
being controlled by the Democratic Party, greatly lowered 
the duty on most imports, and from many articles removed 
it entirely. In order to make up the resulting loss of reve- 
nue, there was levied under the authority of the sixteenth 
amendment (see page 186), what is known as an income tax. 
This is a tax imposed on persons and corporations and based 
on their annual incomes. However, those whose incomes 
are less than a few thousand dollars a year are not required 
to pay this tax. Many people believe that this is the most 
just form of taxation possible, since a person's income is 
the best test of his ability to pay. 

149. Excise taxes. The national government secures a 
large revenue from one other important source. Congress 
has from the beginning laid taxes upon the manufacture 
of certain articles within the United States. These taxes 






NATIONAL TAXATION 201 

are known as excise taxes. From this source the national 
government secures a revenue which in some years has 
even exceeded the enormous revenue from the customs 
duties. The money raised by excise and income taxes is 
known as internal revenue in contrast with the revenue 
derived from duties levied on goods brought from outsid? 
the country. 

The principal manufactures upon which excise taxes arc 
laid are spirituous liquors and tobacco. You may perhaps 
have noticed on cigar-boxes that there is always a green 
stamp so placed that the box cannot be opened without 
breaking and thus destroying the stamp. This stamp rep- 
resents the excise tax that has been placed upon the manu- 
facture of the cigars. Excises are imposed upon the manu- 
facture of liquors and tobacco for two purposes. In the 
first place, they bring in a large revenue to the govern- 
ment; and in the second place, they raise the price and so 
decrease the sale of two articles which are generally believed 
to be hurtful to the health of the people. 

Like the customs duties, excise taxes also are indirect 
taxes. They are not borne by the manufacturer who pays 
them to the officer of the government. To the price of 
his liquors or tobacco the manufacturer adds the amount 
of the excise tax, and the purchaser pays the tax in the 
increased price of these articles when he buys them. 

150. National and State taxation. Customs duties, and 
income and excise taxes are not the only forms of taxation 
which the national government may adopt; but ordinarily 
they are the only forms employed. In times of war, when 
the United States government has naturally needed large 
additions to its revenue, taxes have been imposed on many 



202 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

other things. During the Spanish-American War, for ex- 
ample, stamp taxes were imposed on bank checks, freight 
bills, Pullman tickets, and many other things. 

The States are by the Constitution forbidden to lay any 
duties on imports. 1 Nor do the States as a rule lay excise 
taxes upon the manufacture of liquor and tobacco, although 
they might lay such taxes if they wished to do so. Thus 
you see that the States do not interfere with the two chief 
sources of the national revenue — the customs duties and the 
excise taxes. 

On the other hand, the national government does not 
ordinarily lay taxes on real extate, personal and business 
property, or franchises ; nor does it impose poll-taxes ; and 
only in rare instances license taxes. These, as we have seen 
(see chapter VII), are the chief sources of our State and 
local revenues. We see, therefore, that the methods by 
which the government of the nation and the governments 
of the States secure their respective revenues are usually 
quite distinct. This has its advantages, for if taxes were 
laid by both governments on the same things, it might re- 
sult sometimes in excessive taxation. 

In the exercise of its taxing power, the Constitution 
places two important restrictions upon the national govern- 
ment. In the first place, direct taxes, with the exception of 
income taxes, must be apportioned among the States accord- 
ing to their population. The result of this restriction is 
that Congress has seldom attempted to levy a direct tax. 
It is far too difficult to apportion such a tax among the 
States. For example, suppose Congress should attempt to 

'Both the States and the national government are prohibited from 
laying duties on exports from the United States* 









NATIONAL TAXATION 



203 



lay a tax on land. This would be a direct tax, for the owner 
of the land would himself bear the tax. This tax would 
have to be distributed among the forty-eight States accord- 
ing to their population. This would require a different rate 

of taxation in each of the State- and an army of officers to 
superintend its collection. 

The second principle of taxation required by the Con- 
stitution is that "all duties, imposts, and < shall be 
uniform throughout the United Si This means that 
Congress may not levy a duty on import- brought into 
New York and refuse to levy the same duty on similar 
imports brought into Mobile or San Francisco. Xo pref- 
erence can be given to the ports of one State over those of 
another. Nor may Congress impose an excise tax on one 
manufacturer of liquors or tobacco and refuse to impose a 
like excise on another manufacturer of similar article 

151. Who controls the nation's finances. The Constitution 
provides that Congress -alone shall have the power to levy 
taxes; and Congre — . a- we shall see (see page 207 | , is 
composed of representatives chosen by the people in the 
several States of the Union. Moreover, tax bills must 
be proposed in the lower house of Congress, which, until 
the adoption of the seventeenth amendment (see page 187 ), 
represented the people more directly than did the upper 
house. It is a great protection to the people under any 
government that taxes can be imposed upon them only by 
their representatives to whom they have given this power. 

Congress must also provide for expending the money 
raised by taxation. Xo officer of the government may 
pay out any portion of the public funds unless he receives 



204 H0W WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

his authority to do so by an act of the national legislature. 
Bills which provide for expending the money of the nation 
are known as "appropriation bills. ,, 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. Who is the postmaster at your post-office? Who pays him for 
his services? Is there a rural free delivery in your community? 
Who pays the carrier for his services? How is postal service sup- 
ported? 

2. Who pays for the support of our army? For the building of 
our battleships? For the construction of coast defences, such 
as forts, batteries, and mines? Who pays the salaries of the 
President, the members of Congress, our diplomatic representa- 
tives, and all the other officers of the national government? 
Mention other services undertaken by the United States govern- 
ment which require large expenditures of money. How is this 
money secured? Explain, then, how we as a people are benefited 
by the taxes paid to the national government. 

3. Find out from your father whether he pays any taxes directly 
to the national government. 

4. What are imports? Suppose an importer buys gloves in Lon- 
don for one dollar a pair and pays on each pair imported to the 
United States a duty of sixty cents; what would these gloves prob- 
ably sell for in American shops? Suppose you buy a pair of them, 
who pays the duty of sixty cents? Do you realize that you are 
paying it? Do you pay it directly to the government? Who pays 
it to the government collector? What kind of tax is this called, 
and why? 

5. Why does the United States government place large duties on 
imports? .Why is this called a "protective tariff"? Explain fully 
how our protective tariff encourages home manufactures. 

6. Have you ever seen a government stamp on a cigar box? 
How is this stamp placed, and what does it mean? On the manu- 
facture of what article besides tobacco are excise taxes levied? 
Why does the national government place taxes on the manufacture 
of these articles? 

7. Suppose it costs a manufacturer two dollars to make a box of 
cigars, and suppose the United States government places an ex- 



NATIONAL TAXATION 205 

cise tax of fifty cents on each box that he makes ; what would this 
box probably sell for in the shops? Who pays the tax of fifty 
cents? What kind of tax is this called, and why? 

8. Explain how our national government and our State govern- 
ment secure their revenues from different sources. W r hat is the 
advantages of this? 

9. What are the two great principles of national taxation? What 
difficulty would the government of the United States meet if it 
laid a tax on real estate? Suppose a New York importer pays a 
duty of $3 a yard on lace worth $5 a yard ; what duty will a 
Mobile importer pay for the same lace? 

10. Who has the power to impose these duties and taxes? Who 
provides for expending the money that is raised by these means? 



CHAPTER XXI 

HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE MADE 

152. The two houses of Congress. During the brief period 
of our history when the thirteen original States w£fe! 
governed under the Articles of Confederation, the jaws] 
of the nation were made by a Congress consisting of a 
single body. Our national Constitution, which was adopted 
in 1789, provides for a legislature composed of two houses,; 
one of which is known as the House of Representatives and 
the other as the Senate, In order for any measure to be- 
come a law, it must be passed by both of these houses 
of Congress. Thus the makers of our Constitution sought 
to prevent laws from being made without due care and 
deliberation. 1 

153. How the States are represented in Congress. In the 
Congress that existed during the period of Confederation, 
each State was entitled to cast only one vote, without re- 
gard to its population or the number of representatives 
that it had in Congress. As a result of this, the small 
State of Delaware had as much power in making the laws 
of the nation as Virginia, which was then the largest State 
of the Union. At the time of the framing of our present 
Constitution, the smaller States wished to continue this 
equal representation of the States in Congress. The large 
States, however, wanted the States to be represented in 

^he framers of the Constitution were influenced by the fact that 
the British Parliament, which is the law-making body of Great 
Britain, consists of two houses, while most of the colonial legisla- 
tures had likewise been composed of an upper and a lower house. 

206 



HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE MADE 207 

proportion to their population, for this would increase 
their power in the national legislature. When it was de- 
cided that Congress should consist of two houses, the 

difficulty was readily overcome; the large States were 
given what they desired in one house and the small States 
in the other. It was provided that in the House of Repre- 
sentatives each State should be represented according to 
its population ; in the upper house each State was given 
the same number of senators. 

1. The House of Representatives. Each State is by the 
Constitution permitted to choose members for the House 
of Representatives in proportion to its population. 1 For 
the purpose of electing congressmen — as members of the 
House of Representatives are usually called — each State 
is divided into congressional districtSj and one congress- 
man is elected by the voters of each district. At present 
Tennessee has a population which entitles the State to ten 
congressmen. There are, therefore, ten congressional dis- 
tricts in Tennessee. You must not suppose, however, sim- 
ply because congressmen are elected by districts, that they 
represent their districts in Congress. Every representa- 
tive should keep before him the interests of the entire 
nation ; he should not feel that he represents only the 
limited number of people who elected him. 

As we have learned in our earlier study, provision is 

made in the Constitution for ascertaining the number of 

people in each State by taking a census every ten years. 

After each new census Congress has to determine how 

many representatives each State is to have in accordance 

with the new record of its population. This is called 

reapportioning the representation of the State. At this 

time some States are given additional represenatives be- 

1 Before the abolition of slavery every five slaves were counted as 
three whites in determining the population of the slave States. 



208 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

cause of their large increase of population since the pre- 
ceding census. Moreover, a State may, in the reapportion- 
ment, be deprived of one or more of its representatives, but 
in practice this is usually avoided. 

At present each congressman is elected to represent a 
population of more than two hundred thousand people. If, 
however, a small State has less than this population, it must 
be given at least one representative. The Constitution does 
not place any limit upon the size of the House of Repre- 
sentatives. At present it numbers four hundred and thirty- 
five members. 

2. The Senate. In the United States Senate each State, 
without regard to its population, is entitled to two senators. 
The result is that Nevada, with a population of eighty-one 
thousand inhabitants, has the same representation in the 
Senate as the State of New York with a population of more 
than nine millions. 

The Constitution did not provide for the election of 
Senators by a vote of the people. It provided that they 
should be chosen by the legislatures of the various States. 
There were many disadvantages in choosing senators by 
this method. The position of senator is usually much 
sought after, for it carries with it great dignity and influ- 
ence. In consequence the members of our State legislatures 
were often chosen solely with reference to how they 
would vote on the choice of a United States senator. Our 
State law-makers ought to be chosen wholly with reference 
to their ability to make proper laws for the State. More- 
over, it not infrequently happened that the members of a 
State legislature were unable for many days to agree on 
the choice of a United States Senator. The result was 
that the business of making laws for the State was seriously 
delayed and much bitter feeling was enkindled. On several 










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210 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

occasions in this or that state it was even disclosed that the 
friends of certain candidates had corrupted certain mem- 
bers of the legislature by buying their votes. 

For many years efforts were made to change this method 
of electing United States senators. This necessitated, how- 
ever, an amendment to the national Constitution, and as 
we have seen, such amendments can be passed only with 
great difficulty. (See page 184.) Finally, on May 12, 1912, 
an amendment providing that Senators should be elected 
by a vote of the people of the several States passed both 
houses of Congress by the necessary two-thirds vote. This 
amendment was forthwith sent to the State legislatures. 
Within one year it had been ratified by the legislatures in 
three-fourths of the States; and in May, 1913, it was added 
to the Constitution as the seventeenth amendment. 

This simply means that no United States Senator can 
ever again be chosen by a State legislature. He must be 
elected by the voters of his State. On Tuesday following 
the first Monday in November of every even-numbered 
year (that is, 1914, 1916, 1918, etc.) are held in nearly 
all the States of the Union what is known as the general 
elections. At this time Congressmen are elected, and once 
in four years presidential electors (see pages 218, 219) are 
chosen. In most of the States the Governor and other State 
officers (see page 120), the members of the State legis- 
lature (see page 109), and county officers (see pages 137- 
139) are elected at the same time. Congress has now pro- 
vided that whenever the term of office of a United States 
Senator is about to expire, a Senator shall be chosen in 
the State which he represents at these general November 
elections. Thus the term of one of Tennessee's Senators 
expires March 3, 1917; the other expires March 3, 1919. 



HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE MADE 211 

A senatorial election must, therefore, be held in this State 
in November, 1916, and another in November, 1918. 

154. The term of office of members of Congress. Mem- 
bers of the House of Representatives are chosen every two 
years in November. Each representative, therefore, serves 
for a term of two years. If he returns to Congress for 
another term, he must be re-elected by the voters of his dis- 
trict. Representatives are sometimes re-elected for many 
terms. In some instances the same congressman has been 
chosen continuously by his district for twelve or fifteen 
terms. 

A senator holds his seat for six years. Unlike the House 
of Representatives, the entire Senate is not renewed at the 
end of the senatorial term. Instead of the whole number 
of senators being chosen every six years, one-third of them 
are chosen every two years. By this means it is impossible 
for more than a third of the Senate to consist of new mem- 
bers, for the other two-thirds always hold their positions 
over from one session of Congress to another. Moreover, 
many of the Senators are re-elected at the end of their 
terms of office. The Senate, in consequence, consists of a 
body of men many of whom have held their seats for a 
long period of time. This gives a permanence of character 
to the Senate which the House of Representatives lacks 
because of the many changes that are made every two years. 

155. Who may be chosen members of Congress. The Con- 
stitution requires that senators and representatives shall 
be citizens of the United States and inhabitants of the 
State from which they are chosen. Senators must be at 
least thirty years old and congressmen at least twenty-five 
years old. Usually, too, a congressman must reside in the 
district in which he is elected, although this is not required 
by the Constitution. 



212 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

In general only men of intelligence and high character 
are chosen to be members of the national Congress. Nearly 
always a majority of them are lawyers of ability. As you 
may imagine, the longer a congressman or senator holds his 
seat in Congress the more influential he becomes. Ordi- 
narily a representative who holds office for a single term of 
two years and is not re-elected does not wield a large 
amount of influence in the law-making body of the nation. 

156. How Congress is organized. Each house of Congress 
has the power to determine how it shall be organized for 
business, and whether those who claim to be members have 
been properly chosen. Each house elects its own officers, 
with the single exception that the Vice-President of the 
United States must be the presiding officer of the Senate. 

The House of Representatives chooses for its presiding 
officer one of its own members. This officer is called the 
Speaker. He is not mentioned in the national Constitution ; 
but owing to the powers which have been given him by the 
House, the Speaker is one of the most powerful officers 
of the national government. He is usually the strongest 
man in the political party which has elected a majority of 
the members of the House. He has the power to refuse 
to consider a motion which may be offered simply for the 
purpose of delaying the business of the House. He has the 
power also to recognize or refuse to recognize any member 
of the House who desires to make a motion. He can thus 
give preference to those whom he wishes to hear and can 
often prevent his opponents from being heard before the 
House. Moreover, he has such control over the order of 
business in the House that he can sometimes "kill" a pro- 
posed measure by refusing to let it come to a vote. Before 
1910 the Speaker enjoyed even larger powers than these; 






HOW THE NATIONAL LAW'S ARK MADE 



213 



but great opposition arose to this, and some of his powers 
were taken away. 

157. The committee system in Congress. If you have 
ever visited the House of Representatives during a session 
of Congress, you must have been impressed by the general 
noise and disorder that prevails. It seems almost as if 
no business at all were being transacted. Many of the 
members are absent from their desks. Those who are 
present are reading newspapers, or writing, or walking 
about, or conversing with one another. Usually some mem- 
ber is speaking, but scarcely anybody is listening to him. It 
is only upon exceptional occasions that all the members are 
in their seats giving close attention to the speeches that are 
being made. How is it, you ask, that so many important 
measures can be passed by this House under such circum- 
stances? It is because the real business of the House is 
being caried on in the committee rooms. 

When a new Congress comes together, the first duty of 
the House is to elect a Speaker and a large numbei of 
standing committees. • Each of these committees has for 
its consideration measures that relate to one particular 
branch of the national government's work. Every member 
of the House of Representatives is more than eager to have 
himself elected as a, member of some important committee; 
for it is in the committee room that a congressman does 
his real work and becomes a power in making the laws of 
the nation. The majority party always elects the chairman 
and a majority of each committee from among its own 
members. 

In the Senate a large number of standing committees are 
likewise elected at the opening of each new Congress. And 
here, too, the majority of each committee are always mem- 
bers of the leading political party in the Senate. 



2T4 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

158. How a measure becomes a law. At each session of 
Congress an enormous number of measures are introduced 
in each house. As a matter of fact, not one in ten of these 
measures ever becomes a law. If each member were per- 
mitted to introduce any measure that he chose and have 
it immediately debated before the house almost nothing 
would be accomplished. Hence the committee system has 
been adopted. When a measure is introduced by any mem- 
ber, it is referred at once to an approprite committee. The 




Office Building of the House of Representatives 



committee considers the proposition carefully and perhaps 
revises it. Later the committee reports the measure to the 
house in which it was introduced, and advises that it be 
enacted or rejected. Important bills, after they have been 
reported by a committee, are discussed in the house, and 
frequently they are changed, or amended, as it is called. In 
many instances committees do not make any report on mat- 
ters that are referred to them, but allow such matters to 
be buried in the committee rooms. 

This method .of handling the business of Congress by 



HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE MADE 



215 



means of committees makes it possible for a large number 
of bills to be considered. More than two thousand have 
sometimes been passed by a single Congress, and ten times 
that number of measures are proposed and referred to the 
various committees. It must be remembered, however, that 
when any bill is passed through either house of Congress, 
it must go through a similar process in the other house, 
and later it must be submitted to the President for his 
signature. (See page 221.) 

159. The meetings of Congress. Every year, on the first 
Monday in December, Congress comes together. The elec- 
tion of members to the House of Representatives takes 
place all over the United States in November of the even- 
numbered years. In theory each Congress begins its life 
on the fourth of March following this election and re- 
mains in existence for two years. In practice Congress 
usually comes together in December of the next year and 
continues in session until some time during the spring, ad- 
journing usually in May or June. This first session of 
every newly elected Congress begins, therefore, in Decem- 
ber of the odd-numbered years and is known as its long 
session. The second and last session of every Congress 
begins in December of the even-numbered years and 
comes to an end on the third of March following. This is 
known as its short session. 1 In addition to these regular 
sessions, extra sessions are sometimes called by the Pres- 
ident of the United States. 

5 To illustrate : The members of the Sixtieth Congress were 
elected in November, 1906. This Congress assembled for its first, 
or long, session in December, 1907. Early in June. 1908, this ses- 
sion adjourned. The second, or short, session of the Sixtieth Con- 
gress began in December, 1908, and came to an end March 3, 1909. 



216 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

Congress meets in the national Capitol, a magnificent 
structure located in the city of Washington. In the north 
wing of this building is the chamber of the Senate; in 
the south wing, that of the House of Representatives. In 
recent years the Capitol was thought to be too small to 
accommodate the members of Congress and its numerous 
committees, and Congress provided for the erection of 
two splendid office buildings on either side of the Capitol, 
one for the use of senators and the other for congressmen. 

The Capitol stands in the midst of a beautiful park laid 
out with grass plots, trees, and shrubbery. Spacious 
avenues lead up to it from all parts of the city. As you 
stand upon its dome, these avenues seem to radiate from 
the Capitol like the spokes of a wheel. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. Find out the number of the congressional district of your 
State in which you live. Find out, if you can, the name of the 
present congressman from your district. When was he elected? 
How many terms has he served? When will the next congressional 
election be held? Will your congressman be elected at the same 
time that congressmen will be chosen in other districts of your 
State and in the other States of the Union? 

2. How many congressmen has your State? Explain why it 
has this number, while New York, for instance, has many more, 
and Delaware many less. Who determines the number of congress- 
men that each State shall have? How often is this matter deter- 
mined? When will the next reapportionment take place? 

3. How many senators has your State? How many have the 
other States? Find out the names of the present senators from 
your State. How long has each of them served? How were they 
chosen? How long has each of them yet to serve? Were they 
elected for full terms or to fill unexpired terms? When will Ten- 
nessee choose another Senator? What change was effected by the 
seventeenth amendment to the Constitution? 



HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE MADE 217 

4. I low many members has the Senate? Why? How long is 
their term of office? Are all of them chosen at the same time? 
Explain, then, how the Senate is only partly renewed from session 
to session of Congress. What advantage has this? Explain how 
United States Senators were formerly chosen in the several States. 
Why are senators now chosen by direct popular vote? How was 
this change brought about? Why was it made? What advantage 
will it have? 

5. What advantage is there in having two houses of Congress? 
Explain how the people are represented on a different basis in each 
house. Whj was this plan adopted? 

6. Who presides over the Senate? Over the House of Repre- 
sentatives? What powers has the Speaker? How is he chosen? 
Who is the present Speaker of the House? 

7. Why was the committee system adopted in Congress? How 
are the committees chosen in each house? Explain how every 
measure must pass through either house of Congress. Explain in 
full, then, how every law is made. What advantages has this 
system? 

8. How long does each Congress exist? How many regular 
sessions does each Congress hold? When do the sessions begin 
and how long do they last? What is meant by the "long" and the 
"short" session of Congress? 

9. Is Congress in session at present? If not, when will it assem- 
ble? Will this be for the long or for the short session? How do 
you know? 

10. Where does Congress meet? Have you ever seen the Capitol? 
Describe it. (See page 160.) Have you ever attended a session of 
either house of Congress? Tell the class what you saw. Describe 
the Hall of the House of Representatives. (See page 209.) 



CHAPTER XXII 

HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE PUT INTO 
OPERATION 

160. The executive officers of the nation. The Consti- 
tution does not intrust the State officers with the power to 
put the laws of the nation into operation. It provides that 
the national laws shall be executed by a separate body 
of officers, with the President of the United State at 
their head. Congress has provided by law what officers 
in addition to the President are necessary for carrying 
out the laws. These officers constitute the executive de- 
partment of the national government. 

161. How the President is chosen. 1 Perhaps you may 
not know that when we go to the polls for the election of 
a President and Vice-President, we do not vote directly 
for the candidates for these officers. We cast our votes 
for a number of officers known as presidential electors. 
The Constitution provides that each State may choose as 
many electors as it has representatives and senators in 
Congress. The whole number of electors in any State is 
known as its electorial college. Under this system, Ten- 
nessee chooses at each presidential election twelve electors, 
for our State has, as we have seen, ten representatives and 
two senators. 

1 After the first few presidential elections, it was apparent that the 
original plan of choosing the President and Vice-President of the 
United States was a failure. In 1804, by the adoption of the 
twelfth amendment, our present plan of election was established. 
See page 185. 

218 



HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE EXECUTED 



219 



In each State the proper number of electors are ch< 
at the polls in November of ever} fourth year; and in 
each State these electors come together the following 
January to vote for a President and Vice-President of 
the United States. They send the result of their vote to 
Washington, where the votes of the electors in all the 
States are counted. The original idea contained in this 
method of naming the President was that the electors 
chosen in the several States would be men of srreater 




The White House 
Residence of the President of the United States. 

ability than the average voter, and that they would be 
better able, therefore, to choose a suitable President and 
Vice-President. As a result of the control which political 
parties have over these elections, the electoral colleges 
have been robbed of this important power. Let us see 
how this is brought about. 



220 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

In its national convention (see page 242), each of the 
political parties nominates one candidate for President 
and another for Vice-President. A party convention is 
held also in each of the States, and the proper number of 
electors for the State are nominated by this convention. 
When we go to the polls, we are given a ballot which 
contains the lists of electors nominated in this fashion by 
each of the parties, and we cast our ballot for the electors of 
our party. But these electors have no independent choice at 
all. They must, upon being elected, vote for* the candidates 
which their party has nominated at its national convention. 
No elector would dare vote for any other. While we 
still continue to cast our vote at the polls not directly 
for President and Vice-President but for electors, this has 
become a mere form. We actually vote for the candidates 
of our party ; for if the electors of our party are victorious 
in our State, they cannot in the electoral college cast their 
votes for any other candidates. So little part do the elec- 
tors have in choosing the President that the average 
voter scarcely knows or cares who they are. 

One other point we should bear in mind. When the 
votes of the electors are counted at Washington, each 
State is counted as having one vote for each elector to 
which it is entitled. The entire electoral vote of any one 
State is, however, usually cast for the candidate of one 
political party, even though the parties in the State are 
divided nearly evenly. For example, if the Democratic 
party in Tennessee has only a very small majority over 
the Republican party, the Democratic electors will be 
chosen at the polls instead of the Republican electors ; 
and they will cast all Tennessee's twelve electoral votes 
for the Democratic candidates for President and Vice- 
President. 






HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE EXECUTED 2 2I 

The whole number of electoral votes is now 531, for 
there are in Congress 96 senators and 435 representatives. 

162. The President's term of office. The President and 
Vice-President of the United States are elected for a term 
of four years, beginning on the fourth of March following 
the choice of electors in November. Many of our Presi- 
dents have been re-elected for a second term, but it has 
long been a custom that no President will stand for re- 
election for a third consecutive term. 

1C3. The powers of the President. The Constitution and 
the laws of Congress grant many important powers to 
the President and impose upon him many important duties. 
Perhaps it will be well to classify these powers and duties. 

1. The President's power over legislation. At the opening 
of each session of Congress, the President sends to the 
national legislature a message in which he discusses the 
condition of the country and recommends the passing of 
certain laws. During the session he often sends further 
messages. In 1913 President Wilson reintroduced the cus- 
tom of reading his important messages to Congress in 
person — a custom abandoned since the time of Jefferson. 
At all times, moreover, the President keeps closely in touch 
with the leaders of Congress, advising with them as to the 
framing of bills. In this manner he exercises great influ- 
ence in the making of our national laws. 

When a bill has finally passed both houses of Congress, 
it must be sent to the President for his signature. The 
Constitution gives him ten days in which to consider the 
bill. If at the end of that time he has taken no action, 
the measure becomes a law without his signature. 1 Before 

*If, after a bill has gone to the President. Congress adjourns be- 
fore the expiration of ten days, the bill does not become a law 
without the President's signature. This is called a "pocket veto." 



222 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

the expiration of these ten days, however, the President 
may veto the bill and return it to Congress with his 
reasons for refusing to approve it. If Congress passes 
the bill again by a majority vote of two-thirds in each 
house, the measure becomes a law in spite of the Presi- 
dent's disapproval. It is usually very difficult, however, 
to "over-ride" the President's veto in this way. 

The President is sometimes convinced that measures 
of importance should be immediately enacted into laws. 
At such times he has authority to call a special session of 
Congress. Such sessions were called in April, 1909 and 
191 1, by President Taft, and in April, 1913, by President 
Wilson. 

2. The President's power to appoint other officers. The 
President and Vice-President are the only national execu- 
tive officers elected by the people. All the other officers 
are appointed. The most important of these, as for in- 
stance the heads of departments, ambassadors and minis- 
ters, judges, and postmasters, are nominated by the Presi- 
dent and approved by a vote of the Senate. A few officers 
are appointed by the President alone. In addition to these, 
a vast number of less important officers and employees 
are appointed after competitive examinations held by a 
board known as the Civil Service Commission. 

In nominating most of the important officers of the 
national government, you must not think that the Presi- 
dent can always act with independence. He is influenced 
and controlled largely by the wishes of the members of 
Congress. Especially is this true in the appointment of 
such officers as judges, district attorneys, postmasters, and 
customs and internal revenue officers, who are scattered 
all over the country. Senators and congressmen have great 
influence with the President in such appointments. 



HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE EXECUTED 223 

3. The President's power to remove other officers. The 
President must see that the laws of the nation are faith- 
fully executed. It is his duty, therefore, to see that the 
other executive officers are properly performing their work. 
This would be impossible unless the President had the 
power to remove from office those who were inefficient, 
or who refused to carry out the law or his orders. With 
the exception of a period of about twenty years, the Presi- 



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! 1 



A New Year's Reception at the White House 

Showing thousands of persons in line entering the White House 

on the occasion of the President's public reception held every 

New Year's Day- The large building in the foreground 

is occupied by the State, War, and Navy Departments. 

dent has always exercised this important power of removal. 
Officers are removed by the President not only to secure 
better service in the government but sometimes also in 
the interest of political parties. Whenever a new Presi- 
dent is elected by a party which has been out of power, 



224 H0W WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

it is usual for a large number of the more important 
officers either to resign or to be removed from office by 
the President. Their places are then filled by members 
of the political party which has come into control of the 
government. 

Jf. The President 9 s power over foreign affairs. The Presi- 
dent has the power, with the consent of the Senate, to ap- 
point those diplomatic officers who are sent to represent 
us in foreign countries. It is he, also, who receives the 
diplomatic representatives sent to the United States. As 
we have already seen, he has the power to draw up 
treaties with foreign nations, although these must after- 
wards be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. 
Thus the President as the chief officer of the nation plays 
an important part in the conduct of our relations with 
foreign nations. 

5. The President's power over the army and navy. By the 
Constitution the President is made commander-in-chief of 
the army and navy. This gives him large control over 
the appointment of army and navy officers and over the 
movements of our land forces and vessels of war. Con- 
gress has given him the power to call out the State militia 
in time of public danger (see page 167) ; and the Consti- 
tution places him also at the head of these forces when 
they are called into the service of the nation. 

6. The President's pardoning power. The President has 
the power to pardon those who have committed offenses 
against the laws of the United States. This power is 
given to the President for the same reason that the Gover- 
nor of our State is given the power to pardon those who 
have committed offenses against the laws of Tennessee. 
(See page 119.) 



HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE EXECUTED 



225 



164. The importance of the President's powers. You 
have probably noticed that many of the President's 
powers are similar to the powers enjoyed in Tennessee 
by the Governor of our State. You must bear in mind, 
however, that the President exercises his powers over 
the whole United States, and the laws which he executes 
are the laws of the entire nation. Moreover, in addition 
to the ordinary powers that every Governor exercises within 
his State, the President has a large control over the 
the foreign affairs of the nation, over the army and navy, 
and over the appointment and removal of the executive 
officers of the nation. He occupies, therefore, a more im- 
portant position in the government of the nation than 
the Governor occupies in the government of the State, 
He is more responsible for the proper execution of the 
national laws than is a State Governor for the execution 
of State laws. As a matter of fact, he is the most com- 
manding and powerful officer in the United States. He 
is directly responsible to the people who placed him in 
office for the faithful performance of his duties. 

The Constitution requires that the President shall be 
a natural born citizen of the L T nited States — thus excluding 
naturalized citizens. (See page 172.) He must be at least 
thirty-five years old and must have resided in the United 
States for fourteen years preceding his election. 

In case the office of President becomes vacant for any 
cause, he is succeeded by the Vice-President. And in 
case both the President and the Vice-President are unable 
to fill the office, Congress has provided by law that the 
heads of the departments shall fill the vacancy in the fol- 
lowing order: The Secretary of State, the Secretary of 
the Treasury, the Secretary of War, the Attorney General, 
the Postmaster General, the Secretary of the Navy, and 



226 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

the Secretary of the Interior. Five times the President 
of the United States has died in office and has been suc- 
ceeded by the Vice-President. 

165. The executive departments. In order to assist the 
President in putting the national laws into operation, Con- 
gress has created ten executive departments, each with a 
head, and each having under its control one branch of the 
government's work. For the convenience of the work, 
these departments are divided, generally speaking, into 
bureaus, and over each bureau is an officer known as the 
bureau chief. Let us see what duties have been given to 
these various departments by Congress. 

1. The Department of State, under direction of the Secre- 
tary of State, attends to all the details of our foreign 
affairs. It gives instructions to our diplomatic representa- 
tives abroad and superintends all our relations with foreign 
governments. 

2. The Department of the Treasury, under the direction 
of the Secretary of the Treasury, manages the financial 
affairs of the nation, collects its revenues, controls the 
mints and the national and federal reserve banks, and pays 
out the money authorized by Congress. It also superin- 
tends the life-saving stations and the national public health 
service. 

S. The Department of War, under the direction of the 
Secretary of War, provides for the equipment and manage- 
ment of the army. It has charge of the money set apart 
by Congress for the support of the United States Military 
Academy at West Point, New York, where young men 
are trained for service in the army. The improvement of 
our rivers and harbors is also under its control. 

Jf.. The Department of the Navy, under the direction, of 
the Secretary of the Navy, provides for the navy in the 



HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE EXECUTED 227 



same way that the War Department provides for the army. 
It has control of the money appropriated for the support 
of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Mary- 
land, where young men are trained for service in the navy. 

5. The Post-Office Department under the direction of the 
Postmaster General, has the entire management of the 
United States postal service. 

6. The Department of Justice under the direction of the 
Attorney General of the United States, gives advice on 




The United States Treasury Building 

questions of the law to the President and the other execu- 
tive officers of the nation. When the United States gov- 
ernent sues or is sued in the courts, the national govern- 
ment is represented by the Attorney Genernal or by one of 
the United States district attorneys. (See page 238.) 

7. The Department of the Interior, under the direction 
of the Secretary of the Interior, has control over a number 
of matters relating to the affairs within the country, such 
as Indian affairs, public lands, reclamation of arid lands, 
pensions, patents, educational statistics, and safety in mines. 



228 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

8. The Department of Agriculture, under the direction of 
the Secretary of Agriculture, collects information in regard 
to the agricultural conditions of the country, the improve- 
ment of roads, and similar matters. The department has 
no control over these things. It is established chiefly to 
advise and assist those who desire information. It also 
manages the weather bureau and the government forest 
reserves, and enforces the Pure Food Act. (See page 32.) 

9. The Department of Commerce, under the direction of 
the Secretary of Commerce, collects information in regard 
to commerce, mining, and manufacturing, and gives advice 
and assistance to those who desire it. In addition to this 
it has charge of taking the census, inspecting steamboats, 
maintaining lighthouses, and surveying the coasts. 

10. The Department of Labor, under the direction of the 
Secretary of Labor, enforces the immigration and natural- 
ization laws (see pages 172, 173), and collects and pub- 
lishes much useful information in regard to the condition 
of the laboring classes in the country. A special bureau is 
engaged in promoting the welfare of children. 

All of these executive departments are located in Washington, 
where imposing buildings have been erected for their use. Thous- 
ands of officers and clerks are employed in carrying on the work 
of the departments. Many of these reside permanently in Wash- 
ington. Others are scattered in all parts of the country, as for in- 
stance, the customs and internal revenue officers of the Treasury 
Department, the postmasters and clerks of the Post-Office Depart- 
ment, the district attorneys of the Department of Justice, the agents 
of the weather bureau of the Department of Agriculture, and the 
census officers of the Department of Commerce. 

166. The President's cabinet. The heads of the ten ex- 
ecutive departments act as the President's advisers. He 
may consult them either in person or in writing, or he may 



HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE EXECUTED 229 

call them together to consider any matter of interest 
and importance in carrying on the work of the govern- 
ment. He is not compelled, however, to accept their 
advice, nor indeed to consult them unless he chooses. 
These heads of departments are together known as the 
President's cabinet. 

The President usually selects the members of his cabinet 
with great care. They must be men in whom he has con- 
fidence and upon whose judgment he can rely, for the 
President needs their opinion on many important questions. 
They constitute his executive "family." In case the Presi- 
dent is dissatisfied with any member of his cabinet, he has 
absolute power to remove him from office. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. Do the officers of our State government put the national laws 
into operation? If not, how are the national laws enforced? Ex- 
plain why the national executive officers are necessary. 

2. Who is now President of the United States? When was he 
elected? Row long has he yet to serve? Can he be re-elected at 
the end of his present term of office? 

3. What is meant by presidential electors? How are they nomi- 
nated? How are they elected? What is their duty? Do you 
know of any one who has ever been a presidential elector? Why 
do we take so little interest in the choice of presidential electors? 
Explain fully the original idea of the electoral college. Have the 
electors any independent choice in casting their vote for President 
and Vice-President? Explain how, in spite of the fact that we cast 
our vote at the polls for presidential electors, we in reality vote for 
one of the candidates for President. 

4. How many electoral votes has Tennessee? Why? Explain 
how Tennessee's entire electoral vote w T ill be cast for the Demo- 
cratic candidate even though the Democratic party may cast only a 
small majority of the votes in the State. 

5. Why is the President required to send a message to Congress? 



230 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

What is meant by his veto? How may it be "over-ridden"? 
When may the President call a special session of Congress? Does 
the President have any influence in the. making of our national 
laws ? 

6. What officers of the national government are elected by the 
people? How are the other important officers chosen — the heads 
of departments, for instance, the ambassadors and ministers, the 
judges, the postmasters? How are most of the less important 
officers chosen? Suppose the President wishes to nominate the 
postmaster in your community, how would he probably get the 
names of suitable candidates for this position? How would the 
appointment be made? How is the President influenced in the 
nominations which he makes to the Senate? 

7. Why is it necessary that the President should have the power 
to remove cabinet and other officers? What share does the Presi- 
dent have in making our treaties with foreign countries? What is 
his position in the army and navy? 

8. Who may be chosen President of the United States? In case 
of the President's death, who succeeds him? In case of his suc- 
cessor's death, who would become President? 

9. What is meant by the executive departments? How many de- 
partments are there? Give some idea of the business undertaken 
by each of these departments. 

10. What is meant by the President's cabinet? What are the 
names of some of the present cabinet officers? Who appointed 
them? Who mav remove them? 



CHAPTER XXm 

HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE EXPLAINED 
AND APPLIED 

167. Why the national courts are neccessary. We have 
already learned that in our State government a complete 
system of courts is established ; and we have seen how 
these courts apply the laws in particular cases and thus 
protect us in our rights and liberties. (See chapter XII.) 
Now you can readily understand the difficulties that would 
arise if the' State courts throughout the length and breadth 
of our land were given the sole power to explain and apply 
the laws of the nation. Courts in different States would 
explain the national laws quite differently. Sometimes 
they might be unfriendly to the laws passed by Congress 
and might refuse to enforce them. In order to avoid this 
confusion and weakness, the Constitution provides for a 
system of national courts which are wholly independent of 
the State courts. These courts constitute the judicial de- 
partment of the national government. 

168. The system of national courts. The Constitution 
says that there shall be one Supreme Court of the United 
States and as many other courts as Congress may see fit to 
establish. Congress, therefore, has by law determined 
what national courts shall be established in addition to the 
Supreme Court, and how many judges shall be appointed 
for each court, including the Supreme Court. Let us see 
the various national courts which have been provided for 
by Congress. 

231 



232 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

1. The United States Supreme Court. At present the 
Supreme Court consists of nine judges, or justices as they 
are called. One of these, the Chief Justice, presides over 
the court. No case can be heard by less than six of these 
justices, and a majority of those hearing the case must 
agree upon every judgment that is made. Almost the 
entire work of this Court consists in hearing what is known 
as appealed cases. These are cases that have already been 
tried in the lower United States courts or in the courts of 
one of the States, and have been properly brought up, or 
appealed, to the Supreme Court for a final determination. 

The United States Supreme Court is the highest court 
of our nation and is perhaps the most powerful court in 
the world. Its justices are men of great learning in the 
law and of integrity and character above reproach. A seat 
upon the Supreme Bench, as it is called, is one of the high- 
est honors in the gift of the nation. John Marshall, of 
Virginia, was the greatest chief justice this court has ever 
known. From 1801 until the time of his death in 1835 he 
presided over the Supreme Court as its Chief Justice. In 
the opinions which he handed down during these years, 
he explained more clearly than any one else the real mean- 
ing of our national Constitution, and the true nature of the 
federal government which it created. 

The Supreme Court holds its sessions in the Capitol 
building at Washington usually from October until June. 
It is a solemn, dignified, and impressive court of justice. 
During the sitting of the court the justices wear long 
black gowns. 

2. The Circuit Courts of Appeals. Congress has provided 
that for judicial purposes the entire country shall be 
divided in nine circuits, a number of States being included 
in each circuit. In 1891 there was established in each of 



HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE APPLIED 233 

these circuits a Circuit Court of Appeals. These courts 
hear cases appealed from the lower United States courts, 
and in many instances they have the power to determine 
these cases finally, without any further appeal to the Su- 
preme Court. These Circuit Courts of Appeals were estab- 
lished to relieve the Supreme Court of a part of its work ; 
for by 1890 so many cases had been appealed to the Su- 
preme Court that it was already several years behind in its 
work. Unfortunately the number of cases before the Su- 
preme Court has so greatly increased that this court is still 
about two years behind in its work. Tennessee, together 
with Michigan, Kentucky, and Ohio, is in the sixth judicial 
circuit. 

3. The District Courts. The lowest and most numerous 
branch of United States Courts are the District Courts. 
In each State and Territory Congress has provided for one 
or more judicial districts, and in each district there is a 
United States District Court, having the power to try 
classes of cases prescribed by Congress. There are in all 
about eighty of these District Courts in the United States. 

Tennessee is divided into three of these national judicial 
districts, known as the Eastern, the Middle, and the West- 
ern Districts of Tennessee. In each of these districts there 
is one United States District Court, which sits from time 
to time in various places within the district. Thus the 
United States District Court for the Eastern District is 
held at Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Greenville ; for the 
Middle District, at Nashville and Cookeville; and for the 
Western District at Memphis and Jackson. 

You see, therefore, that there are, in all, three kinds 
of national courts — (1) one Supreme Court, (2) nine Cir- 
cuit Courts of Appeals, and (3) about eighty District 



234 H0W W E ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

Courts. With the exception of the Supreme Court, most 
of these United States courts sit within the limits of some 
State. You must bear in mind, however, that they are en- 
tirely distinct from the courts of any State, and that, for the 
most part, they hear cases which cannot be brought before 
the State. courts. 

169. What cases may be brought before the national 
courts. The Constitution describes in detail the different 
kinds of cases which may properly be brought before the 
courts of the United States. It is unnecessary for us to 
note all these different classes of cases, for some of them are 
of no great importance. It is of far greater value to us 
to understand in general that the national courts consider 
one important class of cases, and the State courts another 
important class. 

In the first place the national courts may determine all 
cases arising under the Constitution, the laws, and the 
treaties of the United States. If, for instance, a man claims 
that his patent or his copyright (seepage 174) has been vio- 
lated by another man, he brings his suit in a national court, 
for these are rights in which he is protected by the laws of 
Congress. Again, if a person is accused of counterfeiting 
United States money, or of stealing from the United States 
mails, he is tried in a national court, for these are offenses 
against the laws of the nation. Such cases as these do not 
come before the State courts ; they do not require the 
application of State law but of national law. 

Cases of one other important class are brought before 
the courts of the nation. Ordinarily these courts do not 
interpret and apply the laws of any State ; this is the duty 
and the privilege of the State courts. But suppose a dis- 
pute arises between two States, and one of them brings 
suit against the other. Naturally neither of the States 




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236 HOW WE AkE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

would be willing to have the trial conducted in the courts 
of the other State. The Constitution provides that such a 
suit may be brought in the United States Supreme Court. 
Again, suppose a citizen of one State sues a citizen of 
another State ; or suppose a suit arises between a citizen of 
one of the States and a foreigner. In such cases as these, 
the courts of any particular State might be inclined to 
favor the citizens of that State as against outsiders. It is 
provided, therefore, that such suits may be brought in the 
national courts, even though they may require the applica- 
tion only of State law. 

There are a number of other kinds of cases which may 
come before the national courts, but these arise much less 
frequently than the two classes we have mentioned. We 
should all remember that, for the most part, the cases heard 
in the United States courts are: (1) those which require 
the application of the laws of the nation ; and (2) those in 
which, by reason of the character of the parties engaging 
in the suit, the national courts may be expected to render 
more impartial decisions than the State courts. 

170. How the Supreme Court protects the Constitution 
against the States. In addition to these cases which clearly 
fall to the national courts for determination, there is 
another numerous and important class of cases to be con- 
sidered. You will recall that the United States Constitu- 
tion places certain restrictions upon the powers of the 
States. (See page 194.) Suppose, for example, that a State 
passes a law which in reality takes a man's property from 
him without paying him justly for it. The national Con- 
stitution prohibits any State from passing such a law. You 
see at once, that a conflict arises between the law of the 
State and the Constitution of the nation. But the Consti- 
tution is the "supreme law of the land" and must prevail 



HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE APPLIED 237 

over the State law. The situation is very complicated. 
How shall a man proceed who has been deprived by some 
State of a right in which he is protected by the national 
Constitution ? This will depend somewhat upon the par- 
ticular case. It is sufficient for you to know that ordinarily 
he will bring his suit in a State court, and there he will 
seek to maintain his rights under the national Constitution. 
If the Supreme Court of the State decides that he is not 
protected by the national Constitution, he then has the 
right to carry his case before the United States Supreme 
Court. This court has the power to determine the question 
finally, and the State is compelled to obey its orders. This 
is the usual method by which we may protect ourselves 
against the unlawful exercise of powers by any State. 1 

171. How the Supreme Court protects the Constitution 
against Congress. We have just seen that the Supreme 
Court of the nation has the power to protect us against any 
State law that is forbidden by the national Constitution. 
This court also has the power to protect us against any law 
passed by Congress which is not permitted by the Consti- 
tution. As we have learned. Congress can exercise only 
those powers that are given to it either directly or indirectly 
by the terms of the Constitution. If Congress exceeds its 
powers under the Constitution, the Supreme Court will 
declare the law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it. 
(See page 190.) 

In this way the real principles of our federal government 
have been upheld, and the division of powers which the 
Constitution makes between the nation and the States has 

a The eleventh amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States prohibits any citizen from bringing in the national courts a 
suit directly against any State. The officers of a State may usually 
be prevented by the national courts from carrying out a State law 
which violates the national Constitution, but the State itself may 
not be sued. 



238 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

been preserved. For whenever Congress has exceeded its 
constitutional powers, it has usually exercised powers 
properly reserved to the States. The Supreme Court has 
many times refused to enforce laws which were passed by 
Congress in excess of its powers. 

172. How the law proceeds in the national courts. Cases 
are tried before the national courts in very much the same 
way that they are tried in the State courts. (See pages 
130, 131.) Most of the cases in the lower United States 
courts are tried by juries. In a civil suit, there are lawyers 
on both sides of the case, who argue the case before the 
court. In a criminal case, the United States government 
is usually represented by an officer known as a United 
States district attorney. It is the duty of this officer to 
prove the guilt of the person accused of crime against the 
laws of the nation. 

173. The national judges. In addition to the nine jus- 
tices of the United States Supreme Court, there are in each 
of the nine judicial circuits from two to four circuit judges, 
and in each of the eighty judicial districts at least one dis- 
trict judge. All of these justices and judges are nominated 
by the President and confirmed by a vote of the Senate. 

Unlike the President and Vice-President, United States 
judges hold office for life, or as the phrase goes, "during 
good behavior." This method of appointing judges for 
unlimited terms has one great advantage : once appointed, 
a judge holds his office quite independently of the President 
and Congress. He does not have to seek reappointment, 
and therefore he is not controlled by politics. He can per- 
form the duties of his office with justice and fairness to all. 

174. How the national officers may be removed: impeach- 
ment. Suppose a President of the United States, or a 
judge of one of the national courts, or some other officer 






HOW THE NATIONAL LAWS ARE APPLIED 239 

of the nation violates the trust imposed in him. Suppose, 
for instance, that he accepts a bribe, or betrays the nation 
to an enemy, or commits some great crime. Naturally the 
people would be unwilling to have such a man continue in 
office, and provision is made by which he may be removed. 
This is accomplished by convicting him upon what is 
known as impeachment. Impeachment is a kind of accusa- 
tion brought against a public officer. It is similar in char- 
acter to an indictment. (See page 1 32.) 

The national Constitution gives to the House of Repre- 
sentatives the power to impeach any officer of the United 
States. The senate is made a court for the trial of such an 
impeachment, and the officer who has been impeached can 
be convicted only by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. If 
convicted, he may be removed from office and forbidden to 
hold any office of trust in the future. After his removal, 
he may be tried by an ordinary court and punished like 
any other criminal. 

The House of Representatives has rarely exercised this 
power to bring impeachments. You will recall that in 
1868 President Johnson was impeached by the House, but 
the Senate failed to convict him on the charges brought 
against him. Only three national judges have ever been 
removed from office by impeachment. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

1. Explain why the national courts are necessary, in addition to 
the courts of the States. 

2. Describe the system of national courts in the United States. 
In what circuit is Tennessee? What other States are in this circuit? 
How many district courts are there in Tennessee? Find out. if you 
can, where these district courts meet. Why were the circuit courts 
of appeals established? 

3. Have you ever seen the Supreme Court room in the Capitol at 



2 4 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

Washington? If so, describe it. How many justices sit in this 
court? How often does it meet? 

4. How are the national judges appointed? For what term? 
Why? Find out, if you can, the name of our present Chief Justice. 
The names of some of the other justices on the Supreme Bench. 
Find out, if you can, the names of some of the national judges who 
sit in the district and circuit courts in Tennessee. 

5. What two great classes of cases may be brought before the 
national courts? What cases come before the State courts? If 
you wished to defend some right granted to you by the national 
Constitution, how would you probably proceed? Who would 
determine your case finally? 

6. Explain how the Supreme Court protects the Constitution 
against the States. Against the powers of Congress. 

7. What is meant by impeachment? Why is it necessary? Who 
has the power to bring impeachments? How must the accused 
officer be tried? How may he be punished? Tell about the 
impeachment of President Johnson. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

HOW THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT IS CON- 
TROLLED BY POLITICAL PARTIES 

175. Why political parties are necessary. We have 
already noted th it very early in our history the people 
of the United Sta;es began to separate into political parties. 
Perhaps you rm y not understand why these parties arc 
necessary. In crrrying on the work of the government, im- 
portant questions are constantly arising as to how the gov- 
ernment ought to act in this or that matter. The people 
are interested i these questions, for the happiness of the 
nation often depends upon how they are settled. People 
usually differ in opinion as to what course the government 
should follow. The members of one political party want 
one plan adopted ; the members of another party favor 
another plan. For instance after the Spanish-American 
War, not all the people in the United States were in favor 
of our taking over the Philippine Islands. One party 
desired the acquisition of the islands, the other party op- 
posed it. 

At the polls each party tries to secure the election of its 
candidates in order that its plans may be carried out. For 
the purpose of nominating these candidates and promoting 
their election, political parties have to organize. Thus we 
see that 01 i' government is controlled by organizations 
of the people know r n as political parties ; but we must re- 
member that these organizations are not a part of the gov- 
ernment at all. 

241 



242 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

We have seen that in our State, Tennessee, each political 
party has its State and local committees, and that these 
committees provide for holding party conventions and 
party primaries, at which their candidates for State and 
local officers are nominated. (See pages 156-158.) Each 
party has also a national committee, composed of promi- 
nent party leaders in various parts of the country. This 
national committee has general supervision over ^the affairs 
of the party. Let us now see how each political party 
endeavors to get control of the national government. 

176. The national party convention. The President and 
the Vice-President are the only executive officers of the 
nation who are elected by the people. In order that the 
choice of these important officers may not be left to the 
presidential electors, it is necessary that the candidates of 
each party should be nominated before the election is held. 
(See page 220.) These nominations are made by each of 
the political parties in their national convention. 

In the United States there have usually been only two 
large parties. Some time during the summer preceding 
the presidential election each of these parties holds its 
national convention. The convention consists of delegates 
chosen by a party convention or primary held in each State. 
(See page 157.) A State is entitled to send to the conven- 
tion twice as many delegates as the number of its con- 
gressmen and senators. 

On the day appointed these delegates, about one thous- 
and in number, assemble in some tremendous hall in one 
of our large cities, and they proceed to ballot for a candi- 
date for President and a candidate for Vice-President. In 
this manner are the party candidates chosen. As we have 
seen, candidates for presidential electors are nominated 
by party conventions or party primaries. The electors who 




NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES 



243 



are victorious at the polls must cast their ballots for the 
candidates for President and Vice-President who have been 
nominated by the national convention of their party. 
(See page 220.) * 

177. The party platform. The national convention has 
one oilier important duty to perform. It draws up what 
is known as the platform of the party. This platform is a 
paper setting forth the opinions of the party on important 
questions in which the people are interested. It declares 
what the candidates of the party will and will not do if they 
are elected. Unfortunately these platforms usually contain 
promises intended only to attract voters for the party can- 
didates. When the election is over, those who have been 
chosen to office do not always seek to carry out the prom- 
ises which their party made in the platform which was 
adopted by the national convention. 

The party platform is published in the newspapers 
throughout the land.. It is freely discussed in the speeches 
that are made during the campaign, as the period preceding 
the election is called. Each party explains and upholds its 
own platform, while it opposes and denounces the platform 
of the other party. 

178. How political parties control the national legisla- 
ture. Senators and congressmen are chosen in their re- 
spective States. The nomination of party candidates for 
these offices is, therefore, controlled by the party organi- 
zation within the States. Since Senators are elected by 
f he voters of the entire State (see page 210), each party, 
when the time arrives for such an election in any State, 
■nominates its candidate either by a State party convention 
or by a direct primary. 



244 H0W WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

Since corgressmen are chosen by the people in congres- 
sional districts, the party candidate for congressman is 
usually nominated by a district convention or at a district 
primary. J* 

In one way or another, you see, the party manages to 
choose its candidate for every office before the election 
actually takes place. In this way the party is held together, 
for the voters do not scatter their votes on several candi- 
dates of their own party. 

179. Who may vote in national elections. Our national 
Constitution does not lay down the qualifications for those 
who vote in national elections. This important matter is 
determined by the Constitution of each State, and different 
States require different qualifications. As a result of this, it 
sometimes happens that a person may cast a vote for Presi- 
dent or for congressman in .one State, although the same 
person might not be allowed to cast such a vote if he lived in 
some other State. But, as we have learned, the Constitution 
does place one restriction on the powers of the States in 
this matter. No State can deprive any person of his vote 
because of his race, color, or previous condition of servi- 
tude. This provision is found in the fifteenth amendment 
to the Constitution. 

180. Our responsibility as American citizens. We have 
now completed our brief study of the government of our 
State and nation. We have necessarily omitted many 
points of interest in that study. But one thing at least 
our study should have made clear to us : that our govern- 
ment — whether national, State, or local — is established for 
the purpose of protecting and assisting us. In many ways 
the government affords us protection for our lives, our 
health, our property, our liberty; and in many ways it is 



NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES 245 

daily promoting our progress and happiness and providing 
for our welfare. 

We have seen that we have in the L'nited States a 
federal system of government — that is, a government in 
which the powers are divided between the nation and the 
States. We have seen how the governments of our State 
and nation provide in different ways for our protection and 
assistance, and how each of them is supported. We have 
seen how our State and national laws are made, how they 
are put into operation, and how they are applied. And 
finally, we have seen that both State and national govern- 
ments are controlled by organized political parties. All 
of this complicated scheme of government which we have 
been studying has been established by the people of the 
United States in order that they may enjoy the benefits 
which it affords. 

It is of great importance to each of us that we should 
fully realize our own part in this wonderful scheme of 
government. It belongs to us. Our forefathers created it, 
and we have preserved it. Whether our government is 
good or bad will depend upon you and me and upon all 
the other people of our State and nation. For this reason 
it is necessary that we should understand (1) why our gov- 
ernment is maintained and (2) how it is operated. This 
has been the great purpose of our study. 

Every day our government is settling important ques- 
tions which, either directly or indirectly, are of interest and 
concern to you and me. These questions are discussed 
in our newspapers; they are the subject of conversation 
among intelligent men and women. Many of them can be 
understood by intelligent boys and girls. All of us should 
be interested in them. We should try to understand them. 
But we cannot do this unless we have taken time to study 



246 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED IN THE NATION 

the principles of our government. Let each of us bear in 
mind that the government will not run itself. If we stand 
aside, absorbed in our own affairs, and let the government 
take care of itself, it will surely fall into the hands of cor- 
rupt men, who will take advantage of the people's indiffer- 
ence and will use the people's money for their own ends. 
If we are to have good government, the people — that is, 
you and I — must understand the government, We must 
all be watchful, interested, and willing to lend a hand. 

Do you ask how each of us can assist? We can study 
the principles of our government. We can study the ques- 
tions which our government has to face. We can inform 
ourselves in regard to the candidates who are seeking 
office, so that we can cast our votes with intelligence. We 
can use our influence to get the best men nominated and 
elected. In peace or in war we can serve our country 
faithfully when we are called. We can pay our taxes will- 
ingly, realizing that they are necessary to the existence of 
the government. We can obey the laws cheerfully. We 
can be honest with our fellowmen. We can be energetic 
and industrious, and thus by our own progress promote the 
progress of our community. We can at all times be con- 
siderate of the rights of others. And in many other ways 
.we can show our genuine interest in the government of 
our community, State, and nation. These are the duties 
which every good American citizen owes to himself and 
to his fellow-citizens. 

In many respects the government of our county or city 
is closer to us than the government of our State, and the 
government of our State is closer to us than that of our 
nation. We must not be misled by this, for all of these 
governments are but the parts of a great whole. Each of 
them helps us in its own way. We should show our 



NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES 247 

interest in each, our loyalty to all. As Tennesseans we 
should cherish a just pride in our noble State. But we 
should never fail to remember that the people of the 
United States are one people. You and I should be proud 
to feel that, above all else, we have the privilege and honor 
of being American citizens. 

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

T. What are political parties? Why are they necessary? 1 How 
do they seek to control the government? Do you know of any 
question on which our great political parties differ at present? 

2. What is the duty of the national committee of each party? 
Why is the national party convention necessary? How is it com- 
posed? What does it do? 

3. Find out, if you can, when and where the last national con- 
ventions of the Democratic and Republican parties met. What can- 
didates were nominated by each convention? Which candidates 
were elected? For which candidates were the electoral votes of 
Tennessee cast? 

4. What is meant by. the party platform? Who draws it up? 
How is it used? 

5. Explain how political parties in Tennessee control the election 
of United States senators. How are congressmen nominated? 

6. Who determines who may vote in a presidential election? 
What qualifications must a voter have in Tennessee? Who deter- 
mined these qualifications? 

7. Explain how our national. State, and local governments are 
really only parts of a great whole. To which of them do you owe 
loyalty and obedience? 

8. Are you an American citizen? Do you regard this as an 
honor? Think of some of the ways in which you can show your 
appreciation of it. 



INDEX 



Accidents, protection against, 
26-30. 

Advisory school boards, 122. 

Agriculture, U. S. Department 
of, 228. 

Agriculture and Immigration, 
Commissioner of, 116. 

Aldermen, 144, 145. 

Ambassadors, 103, 164. 

Ambulances, 28. 

Amendment, of Tenn. Constitu- 
tion, 102; of national consti- 
tution, 183, 184; first ten. 184, 
185, 193, 194; eleventh, 185, 
237; twelfth, 185, 218; last 
five, 186, 194, 195. 

American citizens. 162; the 
making of. 172, 173: who are, 
186; responsibility of. 244-247. 

Annapolis Convention, 170. 

Annexation of territory by U- 
S., 181, 182. 

Appeals, meaning of. 128, 232, 

233. 237. 

Appointment. President's power 

Of, 222. 

Army, 165. 166, 224. 

Articles of Confederation, 178, 

179- 
Assessment, of property. 88. 80 : 

special, 91. 
Assessors, 88. 139. 
Attorney, district. 130, 139; 

county. 138: U. S. district, 

227. 23S. 
Attorney General, of Tenn., 118; 

of U. S., 227. 

Ballot. 153. 

Ballot box. 153. 

Bill, meaning of, ill, 214. 

Blind institute. St^te, 66. 

Blount, Gov. William, 98, 117. 

Boss, political, 113. 



249 



Cabinet, President's, 228, 229. 
Campaign, political, 243. 
Capitol, of lenn., 43, 112, 113; 

of L. S., 216. 
Capitol Annex. 113. 
Carnegie libraries, 66. 
Caucus, party, 210. 

Cell- -Uj. 

Chancellor. 128, 120. 
Chancery court, in Tenn., 128. 
Chairman of county court. 
Charter, meaning of 

144- 
Chattanooga, waterworks, 34; 

library, 66. 
Circuit court, in Tenn., 126, 128; 

United StaU - 

-'Ji- 
Circuits, judicial, in Tenn.. 126, 
129. 130; U. S. judicial. 232, 

Cities, accidents in. 27-29: pro- 
tection of heath in. 7,2. 33; 
drinking water in. 34. 3?: fire 
departments in. 40. 41 ; edu- 
cation in. 61; libraries in. 66: 
trolley lines in. ~? ; control of 
streets in. 78-S0 : taxation in, 
02: local government in, 105; 
\th of. in Tenn., 141. 142: 
problems of. 142. 143: govern- 
ment of. 143-147. 

Citizenship, training for. in 
school. 62-64: duties of, 113, 

114. T1-. T53. 154. 244--M""- 

a qualification for voters. 151 : 
granted to foremen immigrants, 
j"2\ ^ranted to negroes. 186. 

Civic beautv. 80-82. 

Civil anneals, court oi. 12^. 

Civil districts, see Districts. 

Civil service commission. 222. 

Civil suit, meaning of, 130, 193, 
194- 



25° 



INDEX 



Clerk, of circuit court, 139; of 
county court, 139; of cities, 
146. 

Coast defence, 168. 

Collector of taxes, 138, 139; of 
customs, 199, 200. 

Colonies, union of, 177, 178. 

Colored Industrial and Agricul- 
tural School, 62. 

Commerce, foreign, 162, 164; in- 
ter-State, 73, 169. 

Commerce, U. S. Dep't. of, 228. 

Commission government in 
cities, 145. 

Commission, State Railroad, 73. 

Commissioner of Agriculture 
and Immigration, 120. 

Commissioners, Board of Elec- 
tion^ 153. 

Committees, of General Assem- 
bly, in; of city council, 144, 
145 ; of political parties, 156, 
158, 242; of Congress, 212-215. 

Community, definition of, 13, 
14; why people live in, 14, 15; 
liberty in, 16, 46 ; how the 
school helps, 62-65 ; progress 
of, 68, 69; improvement of ap- 
pearances in, 81, 82. 

Compact of 1806, 54, 93. 

Comptroller, State, 116. 

Congress, powers of, 164-174, 
190, 191, 195, 196, 203, 204; 
restrictions on powers of, 
192-194, 202, 203,^237, 238; 
houses of, 206-208; represen- 
tation in, 206-210; organiza- 
tion of, 212, 213 ; committee 
system in, 213-215; meetings 
of, 215; protection against, 
237, 238. 

Congressional districts, 207. 

Congressmen, election of, 207, 
208; terms of, 211; qualifica- 
tions of, 2TT. 212; power of, 
over appointments, 222; nomi- 
nation of, 244. 

Constable, 24, 30, 139. 

Constitution, 47 ; origin of, 90 ; 
definition of, 99; history of, in 
Tenn., 99-101 ; of 1870, IOI, 



102; importance of Tenn., 102; 
amendment of Tenn., 102; of 
the nation, 162; definition of 
national, 177; framing of na- 
tional, 179, 180; adoption of 
national, 180, 181 ; opposition 
to national, 180, 181 ; amend- 
ment of national, 183-186; 
importance of national, 186, 
187 ; explanation of national, 
189-196; protection of nation- 
al, 236-238. 

Consuls, 165. 

Continental Congress, 177, 178. 

Convention, constitutional, in 
Tenn., 99-101 ; of political par- 
ties 156-158; Annpolis, 179; 
constitutional, of 1787, 179, 
180; national party, 220, 242, 

243. 
Cookeville, library, 66. 
Copyrights, 173, 174. 
Coroner, county, 139. 
Council and mayor government, 

144, 145. 

County court, 121, 137, 138. 

County judge, 137. 

Counties, roads in, 70-72; taxa- 
tion in, 92, 94; local govern- 
ment in, 92, 105, 134-137; rep- 
resentation of, in Tenn. House 
of Representatives, 108, 109; 
courts in, 126-128; reason for, 
in Tenn., 134; powers of, 137; 
government of, 134-139. 

Courts, necessity for, 124, 125; 
protection in, 125 ; system of, 
in Tenn., 125-128; mayor's, 
146; necessity for national, 
231 ; system of national, 231- 
234; jurisdiction of national, 
234-236; protection in national, 
236-238. 

Criminal case, meaning of, 130, 

131. 
Customs, see Duties. 

Deaf and dumb institute, 66. 
Democracy, meaning of, 54, 149- 



INDEX 



251 



Democratic Party, see Political 
Parties. 

Departments, of government, 
104, 182, 183; executive, of na- 
tional government, 226-228. 

Desires, for life and health, 15; 
for liberty, 15, 16; for wealth, 
16; for knowledge, 16-18; for 
progress, 18; for happiness, 18; 
conflict of, 18, 19. 

Diplomatic representatives, 163, 
164. 

Directors, school, 122. 

Diseases, protection against, 31- 

35. 

District attorney, in Tenn., 130, 
139; U. S., 227, 238. 

District courts, l\ S., 233. 

Districts, House, in Tenn-, 108; 
State senatorial, 109; school, 
122; civil, 122, 129, 137. 

Division of powers between na- 
tion and States, 190-195. 

Drinking water, protection 
against impure, 33"35- 

Duties, customs, 164, 165, 199, 
200, 203. 

Education, desire for, t6; why 
the government promotes, 53, 
54, 62-65 ; history of, in Tenn., 
54-58; in New England, 58; 
progress of. in Tenn., 59-62; 
in cities, 61; higher, 61, 62: 
State board of, 121 : county 
superintendent of, 121 ; city 
superintendent of, 123; county 
and city boards of, 121, 122; 
see also Public Instruction 
and Schools. 

Election, places of, T52; officers 
of, 152; commissioners, board 
of, 153; see also Votes and 
J r otcrs. 

Electoral college, 218-220, 242, 

243. 
Eminent domain, definition of, 
44 ; power of, given to rail- 
roads, 44; distinguished from 
taxation, 86. 



Established church, 49. 

Examinations, for physicians, 
31 ; for county superinten- 
dents, 121. 

Excise taxes, 200, 201, 203. 

Executive department, 104, 183, 
218. 

Ex post facto law, 192-194. 

Express powers of national 
government, 190, 191. 

Family, responsibility of, 23; 

duty of. toward education, 58, 

Farms, drinking water on, 33. 
34; fencing of, 43; appear- 
ance of, 81. 

Federal government, meaning 
of, 192. 

. protection against, 28, 40. 

Food inspection, ^2. 

Foreign affairs, control of, 162- 

165 ; President's power over, 

224. 
Forts, 168. 
Franchise taxes, qo. 
Franklin. Benjamin. y6, 179. 
Freedom, of speech, 47-49, 184, 

103: of religion, 49, 50, 184, 

193 : of person, 50, 1 

Gas plants 80. 

General Assembly, of Tenn., 
houses of, 108. 109; sessions, 
109; organization of, no, 
in; powers of, 112: meetings 
of, 112, 113: influences upon, 

113. 114. 

Geography of Tenn., effect of. 
on government, 135-137. 

Government, definition of. 19, 20; 
why established, 20; protec- 
tion of life and health by, 
23-35 ' protection of property 
by. 37-42 ; control over prop- 
erty, 42, 43 : power of, to take 
property, 43. 44 : ownership of 
property, 43 : liberty under, 
46; how restricted, 46-51; pro- 



252 



INDEX 



motion of education by, 53-66; 
promotion of progress by, 
68-82; support of, 85-95 ; or- 
ganization of, 104-106; of 
counties, 134-140; of cities, 
141-147; of towns, 147; who 
shares in, 149, 150; necessity 
for national, 161, 162; powers 
of national, 162-175, 190, 191 ; 
under Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 178, 179; organization of 
national, 182, 183; restrictions 
on national, 184, 185, 192-194, 
202, 203. 

Governor, appointment of terri- 
torial, 98, 117; election of 
State, 117; qualifications of, 
117; powers and duties of, 
117-119. 

Grand jury, 132, 193. 

Habeas corpus, 25, 193. 

Hamilton, Alexander, 180. 

Harbors, improvement of, 74, 
168, 169. 

Health, desire for, 15; responsi- 
bility for, 23 ; protection of, 
by government, 31-35. 

High schools, 59; boards, 122. 

Homestead exemption, 42. 

Hospitals, 29. 

House of Representatives, Tenn., 
107-110. 

House of Representatives, U. S., 
power of, over tax bills, 20? • 
representation in, 207, 208; 
chamber of, 216; power of, to 
bring impeachments, 239. 

Immigration, 172, 173. 

Impeachments, 239. 

Implied powers of national gov- 
ernment, 190, 191. 

Income tax, 186, 200. 

Indictment, meaning of, 132, 193. 

Inspection, of buildings, 28; of 
elevators, 28; of milk, 32; of 
food, 32. 

Interior, U- S. Department of, 
227, 228. 



Internal revenue, 200, 201. 
Inter-State commerce, 73, 169. 

Jackson, Andrew, 99, 113. 

Jackson, library, 00. 

Jefferson, 48, 99, 100, 179, 185. 

Johnson, Andrew, 55. 

Judges, election of, in Tenn., 
129; term of, 129; salaries of, 
129; appointment of national, 
238; term of national, 238. 

ludicial department, 104, 125, 

Jurisdiction of courts, meaning 
of, 126; of various courts iri 
Tenn., 126-128; of national 
courts, 232, 233. 

Jury, right of trial by, 25, 131, 
132, 184, 193, 194; grand, 132. 

Justice, U. S. Department of, 
227. 

Justice of peace, 126, 129, 137, 
139. 

Knowledge, desire for, 16, 18; 

duty of family toward, 58, 59; 

promotion of, by government, 

53-66. 
Labor, U. S. Dep t. of, 228. 

Laws, definition of, 19; how 
made in Tenn., 110-112; exe- 
cution of, in Tenn., 116-123; 
application of, in Tenn., 124- 
132; county, 137, 138; city, 
144, 145; how made in Con- 
gress, 214, 215 ; execution of 
national, 218-229; application 
of national, 231-238. 

Legislative department, 104, 183. 

Legislature of Tenn., see Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

Legislature, national, see Con- 
gress- 

Libel, protection against, 48, 49. 

Liberty, desire for, 15, 16: in a 
community, 16, 46; protection 
of, 46-51, 184-186, IQ2-T05. 

Libraries, State, 66; public, in 
cities, 66; rural school, 95. 



INDEX 



253 



License taxes, 90. 

Life, desire for, 15, 23; govern- 
ment protection of, 23-31, 
165-168. 

Life-saving stations, 27, 168. 

Liquor, prohibition, $2. 

Lobbying, 114. 

Louisiana, purchase of, 182, 191. 

Madison, James, 48, 179. 

Marshall, John 232. 

Mayor and council form of city 

government, 144. 
Memphis, library, 66; trolley 

lines around, 75 ; population 

of, 141, 142. 
Message of Governor, 118; of 

President, 221. 
Military Academy. U. S.. 22 r ). 
Mil tia, 31, 119, 166, 167. 
Ministers, foreign, 163, 164. 
Mints, U. S., 171. 
Money system, national control 

of, 169-171. 

Nashville, drinking water in, 
35; libraries in, 66; trolley 
lines around, 75 ; the capital 
of Tcnn., 112, 113; population 
of, 142. 

National Constitution, see Con- 
stitution. 

National courts, see Courts. 

National government, see Gov- 
ern in en t. 

Naturalization, 172. 

Naval Academv, U. S.. 227. 

Navy, 167, 168, 224; U. S. De- 
partment of, 226, 227. 

New England, education in, 56, 
58; local government in, 135. 
136. 

Nomination, by parties, 156-158: 
of President, 220. 2J2: of 
senators. 208-211, 243; of con- 
gressmen, 244. 

Normal schools, 62. 95. 

Northwest territory. 181. 

Ordinances, city, 144, 145. 



Parcel post. 7 

Pardoning power, 119, 224. 

Parks, in cities, 81, 142. 

Parties, see Political parties. 

Patents. 173, 174. 

Pavement, street, 81, 142. 

Philippine Islands, 168, 195, 196. 

Platform, party. 243. 

Police, in cities, 24, 39, 41. 

Political parties, origin of, 155; 
nee ssity for, 155, 156. 241 ; or- 
ganization of, 156, 242; State 
and local conventions of, 156- 
158; primary elections of, 156- 
158, 2io, 21 r. 243. 244; control 
of, over presidential elections 
219, 220, 242. 243 ; national 
convention of. 242 ; control of, 
over national legislature, 243, 
214. 

Politics, duty toward. 153, 154, 

244-247. 
Polk, James K., 113. 
Polls, 151, 152. 
Poll-taxes, 91, 94, 151, 152. 
Poor, protection of, 29, 30, 43, 

13?, 143- , 

Postal savings banks. 77- 

Postal service 76-78; control of, 
173: support of. 78. 198. 

Post-Office Department, U. S., 
227. 

Precincts, election, 151. 152. 

President, powers of, 163, 221- 
225 ; election of, 185, 218-221, 
242, 243 ; nomination of, 220, 
242; term of, 22 t : re^ousi- 
bility of, 22^ ; qualifications of, 
22^ : successor to, 22^. 22^. 

Presidential electors, 218-221, 
242. 243. 

Primary elections, meaning of. 
156-158: who takes part in, 
158; for nomination of U. S. 
senators, 2*0. 211. 243; of con- 
gressmen, 244. 

Procedure, in courts of Tenn., 
no, 131: in national courts, 

238. 

Progress, desire for, 18; mean- 



254 



INDEX 



ing of community, 68, 69, 81, 
82; and transportation, 75, 76. 

Property, definition of, 16; uses 
of, 37, 38; in land, 37, 38, 41, 
42; government protection of, 
37-42, 185 ; government con- 
trol over, 42, 43 ; ^government 
ownership of, 43 ; improvement 
of, by schools, 65 ; taxes on, 
88-90 ; assessment of, 88 ; pc* • 
sonal, 89; business, 89, 90; not 
taxed, 91, 92. 

Protection, of life, 23-31 ; of ac- 
cused persons, 25 ; of the poor, 
29, 30, 43 ; of old soldiers, 30 ; 
of health, 31-35; of property, 
37-42; of homes, 42; of lib- 
erty, 46-51, 184-186, 190-195; cf 
freedom of speech and reli- 
gion, 47-50, 184, 185, 193; of 
personal freedom, 50, 186; of 
the nation, 165-169; of the 
States, 166, 185; of the negro, 
186, 194, 195; against the 
States, 236. 237; against Con- 
gress, 237, 238, 

Protective tariff, 200. 

Public buildings, 43, 82. ' 

Public Instruction, State Super- 
intendent of, 116, 121; see also 
Education. 

Public works, board of, 147. 

Quarantine regulations, 31, 32. 

Railroad Commission, State, 73. 

Railroads, protection against, 27 ; 
power of eminent domain 
given to, 44; government con- 
trol of, 73', inter-State, 73, 
169. 

Ranger, county, 140. 

Real estate, taxes on, 88, 89. 

Reapportionment, in General As- 
sembly, 109; in Congress, 207, 
208. 

Reconstruction amendments to 
national Constitution, 186. 

Register, county, 139. 

Registration of voters, 151. 



Removal, President's power of, 

223, 224. 
Representative government, 

meaning of, 149, 150. 
Representatives, State election 

of, 108. ' 
Representatives, national, see 

Congressmen. 
Republican Party, see Political 

parties. 
Reserved powers of the State, 

191, 192. 
Returns, election, 153. 
Revolutionary War, 87, 97, 164, 

177, 178- 
Riots, protection against, 30, 31, 

119. 
Rivers, improvement of, 74, 168, 

169. 
Roads, necessity for good, 69, 

70; provision for, in Tenn, 70, 

72. 
Robertson, James, 99. 
Rural free deliveries, 76, 77. 

School Improvement Associa- 
tion, 61. 

School improvement leagues, 61. 

School lands, 54, 93. 

Schools, support of, 54, 55, 93-95 '» 
in cities, 61 ; how the com- 
munity is helped by, 62-65; 
grounds around, 82; see also 
Education. 

School system, history of, in 
Tenn, 54-58; organization of, 
121-123. 

Secretary of State of Tenn., 118. 

Senate, State, 108-110. 

Senate, U. S., power of, over 
treaties, 163 ; representation in, 
208; chamber of, 216; power 
of, over appointments, 222; as 
a court of impeachment, 239. 

Senators, State, election of, 109. 

Senators, U. S., election of. 208- 
212; nomination of, 208-212, 
243; term of, 211; qualifica- 
tions of, 211, 212; power of, 
over appointments, 222. 



INDEX 



255 



Sewerage system, 33, 80, 143. 

Sheriff, 24, 30, 138. 

Slander, protection against, 48, 

49- 
Slavery abolished, 50, 51, 186; 

in Tenn., 56, 58, 141, 142. 
Society, classes of, in Tenn., 56, 

58. 

Soldiers, care of aged, 30. 

Spanish-American \Yar, 164, 167, 
168. 

Speaker of Tenn. House of Rep- 
resentatives, no; of Tenn. 
Senate, no; of U. S. House 
of Representatives, 212, 213. 

State, U. S. Department of, 

States, admission of new, 97-99; 
181, 182; protection of, against 
insurrection, [66; commerce 
between, 166, 169; restrictions 
on powers of, 171, 191, 192. 
194, 195, 202; ratification of 
U. S. Constitution by, ' 180, 
181; equality of. 182; protec- 
tion of, against suits, 185. 237; 
dependence and independence 
of, 189, iqo: powers of, 191, 
192, 244; representation of, in 
Congress, 206-208 ; protection 
against. 236, 237. 

Steamboats, regulations for, 27, 

73, ~4- 

Streets. excavations in, 28; 
lighting of. 28. 39: cleaning 
of, 33, 143; tracks in, 75, 80: 
government control of, 79, 80; 
wires in, 80; appearance of, 81, 
82, 142, 143. 

Suffrage, see Voters. 

Superintendent, of Public In- 
struction, 116, 121; county, 
121, 122, 139: city, 123. 

Supreme Court, of Tenn., 128 : 
of U. S., 232, 236-238. 

Surveyor, county, 139. 

Tariff, protective, 200. 

Taxation, necessity for, 85-87 ; 
distinguished from eminent 
domain, 86: in history. 87; 



principles of, in Tenn., 87, 88; 
forms of, in Tenn., 89-91 ; for 
schools, 93-95; in cities, 145: 
necessity for national, 198, 199; 
forms of national, 199-202; na- 
tional and State, 201, 202; 
principles of national. 202, 203. 

Taxes, definition of, 86; prop- 
erty, 88-90; license, 90; fran- 
chise, 90; privilege, 90; cor- 
poration, 90, 91 ; poll, 91, 94, 
151; general and local. 92. 93; 
indirect, 199, 201 ; excise, 200, 
201; stamp, 202; direct, 202, 
203; income, 186, 200. 

Teachers, appointment of, 122. 

Telegraph service, control of, 78. 

Telephone service, control of, 
in rural districts, 78. 

Tennessee, settlement of, 07: ad- 
mission of, to Union, 99, 100, 
117, 182; origin of name, 09. 

Territories, meaning of, 97; 
government of, 97, 98; admis- 
sion of, as States, 98-100, 181, 
182, 195. 

Territorv, acquisition of. by U. 
S., 181, 182. 

Territory of the U. S. South of 
the Ohio River. 07. 134. 

Toll roads, 70. 

Town meeting, 136. 149. 

Towns, local government of, 106. 

147. 
Township government, meaning 

of. 136. 
Transportation, necessity for, 7>. 

76. 

Treasurer, of Tenn., 120; city, 

146. 
Treasury Department. U- S., 109, 

200, 226. 
Treaties, the making of, 163. 
Trolley lines, 75. 80, 145. 
Trustee, county, 138. 
Turnpikes, 70. 

Union of States, reasons for, 

161, 162, 177-181. 
University of Tenn., 62, 95. 



256 



INDEX 



Veto, of Governor, 118; of 
mayor, 144, 146; of President, 
221, 222. 

Vice-President, duty of, 212, 
225; election of, 218-221, 242, 

Virginia and Kentucky Resolu- 
tions, 48. 

Voters, qualifications for. in 
Tenn., 151, 152; in national 
elections, 244. 

Votes, how cast, 152; how 
counted, 15.3 ; right of negro 
to cast, 186, 244. 



War, power to make, 164; U. S. 

Department of, 226. 
War between the States, 55, 56, 

101, 186. 
Wards, in cities, 144. 
Washington, George, 179, 181. 
Washington City, 216. 
Waterways, government control 

of, 74- 
Waterworks, 80. 
Wealth, desire for, 16. 
Witnesses, 25, 193. 



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